WASHINGTON, D.C. – As scorching humidity made sightseeing a little more uncomfortable in Washington, D.C., a number of American tourists told CTV News they wished Canada-U.S. relations weren’t as heated.
In the shadow of the Washington Monument, New Jersey-native Fuquan Florence told CTV News that freer trade is always better between allies.
“We’ve been friendly with Canada for so many years, and all of a sudden, we’re going to throw tariffs on them?” Florance said in an interview on Monday. “All it does is hurt the American people.”
Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose a new 50 per cent tariff on several Canadian goods – including wine, hockey sticks and cement – for what his administration is characterizing as discriminatory trade policies.
Trump has taken issue with provincial bans on U.S. alcohol, supply management on dairy and certain tariffs and quotas on cars imported to Canada from the United States.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is expected to be in Washington this week to continue discussions, although it’s unclear who he and Canada’s lead trade negotiator, Janice Charette, could be meeting with.
Trump attacks bad for Canada, U.S.: D.C. tourist
Meanwhile, outside the Canadian Embassy in the American capital, Virginia-native Thomas Askins called what Trump is doing “absolutely horrid.”
Askins’ wife is from Canada, and he shudders every time he hears Trump attack the neighbours to the north.
“It’s bad for Canadian citizens. It’s bad for Canadian workers, American workers,” Askins told CTV News. “I think it’s a short-sighted view for doing something, for seeking of individual power and self-reflection.”
While many of the Americans CTV News spoke with aren’t following every twist and turn of the ongoing trade war, the Gledhill family from Utah hopes the friction between the two countries is temporary.
“I think we get along just great,” said T.J. Gledhill, with his wife and teen children by his side. “I know a lot of people from Canada, and I’ve met a lot of people from Canada coming down here … and we’re close.”
Video-game diplomacy
While everyday Americans hope for an end to economic hostilities between the two countries, the Canadian American Business Council (CABC) has come up with an innovative way to educate the public, policy makers and business owners on both sides of the border.
The CABC built two interactive games to explain how deeply integrated the Canadian and American economies really are. The first game, called “Where does it come from,” allows users to make guesses about certain grocery items to find out how many are sourced from the U.S. The other game, “Top Customer,” shows Americans how many U.S. states already count on Canada as their top export destination.
“We realized that it really is important to get to and speak to everyday Americans and Canadians,” said CABC president Beth Burke. “The game was a way to encourage participation and engagement from those folks, to really see the impacts of the arrangement and the relationship in their everyday lives, as a direct impact to their bottom lines and their pocketbooks.”
Burke hopes it will show just how important trade is between the two nations as the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement continues to be reviewed by all three countries.