‘They suck’ remarks and rising boycott risks unsettle cross‑border investors
Tariffs, boycotts, and a looming trade review are turning Canada-US relations into a live risk factor for North American investors, as senior figures on both sides escalate their rhetoric while formal CUSMA talks remain unscheduled.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has dropped the diplomatic soft touch on tariffs.
CTV News reports that, speaking to reporters in Ottawa, he said, “You know what’s an irritant? Fifty percent tariff on steel, 50 percent tariff on aluminum, 25 percent tariff on automobiles, all the tariffs on forest products.”
He added that “those are more than irritants” and called them “violations of our trade deal.”
Carney also pushed back on US anger over provincial liquor embargoes on American products.
Several US officials, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, have criticized bans that keep US brands off provincial liquor store shelves.
Carney responded that “The clients here are the provincial liquor authorities. They make the decision of what they put on the shelves.”
Lutnick has become a lightning rod in the dispute.
Speaking at a Semafor conference, Lutnick slammed the idea that time is on Canada’s side because of US economic pressures, calling it “the worst strategy I’ve ever heard.”
He added, “They suck, they — look, we are a $30tn economy, right?”
BNN Bloomberg reports that his comments came as official high-level negotiations between Ottawa and Washington have been stalled since the fall.
Lutnick is also defending the tariff machinery itself.
As per CTV News, he told a congressional hearing that his department has used Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to impose levies on sectors including steel, aluminum, automobiles and cabinetry, and said it is “investigating other sectors to protect, reshore, and revive manufacturing.”
He framed the tariff regime as an effort to “restore American excellence in critical industries.”
According to the same outlet, that position is already drawing domestic pushback in the US.
Democratic congressman Joseph Morelle of Rochester, NY, said a firm with plants in Rochester and Berlin told him that, because Canadian imports will face new taxes, “it is less expensive for us, more profitable, for us to extend that manufacturing line in Berlin than in the United States.”
Morrelle told Lutnick he supports more US manufacturing jobs but warned that “under the Trump administration’s tariff policy, you’re losing them,” calling the playing field “uneven,” “chaotic” and “Respectfully, it’s reckless.”
Tourism and cross-border spending are already showing strain.
The outlet reports that Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said Canadian tourism to her state fell 30 percent last year, “largely due to the loss of trust and goodwill because of this administration’s rhetoric around Canada.”
She also highlighted Lutnick’s “they suck” remark about Canada’s trade agreement with China.
Lutnick replied that “It is outrageous that Canada will not put US spirits on the shelf,” calling that “insulting and disrespectful to America.”
Canadian political actors are signalling they see leverage too.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told CNN that “the Americans are losing out on tens of billions of dollars,” whether Canadians travel to Florida, Las Vegas or “any other place that we go.”
He said it is “unfortunate that Canadians are boycotting and boycotting spending tens of billions of dollars in the US.”
He linked that boycott to the tariff war and said “This can come to a quick end, everyone can thrive and prosper,” as reported by CTV News.
Ford has said Ontario will not lift its ban on US alcohol at provincial liquor stores until all new tariffs on Canadian goods are removed.
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre is pitching his own approach.
Asked if he could get a deal with the US “that does not include tariffs,” he answered “Yes.”
As leverage, he said he would create a strategic reserve of critical minerals and oil, available at market rates to countries that have free trade with Canada.
“We have the aluminum that goes into fighter jets,” and “We have the tungsten that goes into armor-piercing equipment,” he said.
Against this backdrop, the CUSMA review is inching closer without a formal start.
CBC News reports that Canada’s chief trade negotiator Janice Charette told a Canadian Chamber of Commerce summit that July 1 is “kind of a checkpoint — it’s not a cliff” and “not determinative of the future of our trade relationship.”
She added that she hopes to have “a number of issues worked out by July 1,” but does not expect “everything resolved with a bow ready to go.”
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said he does not expect all issues to be resolved by July 1, though he believes many can be settled by then.
He has pushed Canada to move on dairy supply management and warned that the US does not “want to rubber-stamp” CUSMA, CTV News reports.
Canada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc has responded that dairy supply management concessions are off the table and that making “significant progress on the sectoral tariffs is essential” before Canada fully engages on the CUSMA review.
