What a trade war with Canada could mean for Washington state

"The cost of goods will go up if tariffs are enacted. There is no doubt," said Dr. Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University. 

She says the economic impacts of the border battle would likely trickle down through Washington because of growing anti-American sentiment. 

"We saw it in 2018 when Trump put tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel, and we had fewer Canadian shoppers, and we had a push by Canadians to boycott U.S. products," said Trautman. "We're already seeing that now. That may persist even if tariffs go away because the damage has been done to that relationship. That trickles out to the Whatcom County economy and then further south, as well."