Canadian counter-tariffs take effect as trade war tensions heat up

According to market research and analytics firm Leger, a late summer poll found 41% of Canadians considered the U.S. an “enemy country” in the wake of the collapsed trade deal.

“We’re going to take a pretty big hit with regard to cross-border travel,” said Laurie Trautman, the director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University.

Whatcom County has already seen it. In August alone, roughly 110,000 fewer B.C. vehicles came across the border in Whatcom County than in 2024 — a 45% decrease in traffic, according to an analysis by Whatcom Council of Governments.