Tariffs: New U.S. policy angers Canadians and Americans alike

April 9, 2025

Every week during this tumultuous period, we conduct a survey of Canadians and Americans to explore their views on the economy and their finances.

Some of the key highlights of our survey…

REACTIONS TO TRUMP’S ANNOUNCEMENT AND POLITICAL FIGURES

  • The announcement of new tariffs by Donald Trump sparked strong emotional reactions: 57% of Canadians and 33% of Americans felt angry, while 32% of Canadians and 27% of Americans reported feeling anxious.
  • Less than one third (28%) of Americans believe the tariff decision was the right one for the U.S. economy, and nearly half (48%) say it was the wrong move.
  • If Elon Musk were to step back from a prominent public role, 45% of Americans would see it as good news for the United States. Just 15% would consider it bad news, while 26% say it would make no difference.

PERCEIVED INCREASE IN CONSUMER PRICES

  • A strong majority of Canadians (68%) and Americans (69%) report having noticed an increase in consumer prices in recent weeks. However, this perception has declined compared to the previous wave, dropping by 15 points in Canada (from 83% to 68%)
    and by 4 points in the U.S. (from 73% to 69%).

Methodology

This web survey on the economy was conducted from April 4 to 7, 2025, with 1,631 Canadians and 1,011 U.S. residents, 18 years of age or older, randomly recruited from LEO’s online panel.

A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size yields a margin of error no greater than ±2.43%, (19 times out of 20) for the Canadian sample and ±3.08%, (19 times out of 20) for the American sample.

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