The US just lost one of her closest friends — at a big-time cost to California | Opinion
.jpg "California is one of the top two U.S. destinations for Canadian visitors. Here, streets are lit up on a balmy night in Pismo Beach, a popular tourist spot on California’s Central Coast.")
Danes are boycotting California wines.
A French politician is demanding the U.S. return the Statue of Liberty.
And 200,000 Brits have signed a petition protesting President Donald Trump’s as-yet-unscheduled state visit to the UK.
But here’s what hurts the most: Even Canadians are shunning us.
They are booing our National Anthem. Drinking Cove Soda instead of Coca-Cola. And they’re canceling vacations south of the border, which could wind up costing some Californians their jobs.
For that, we can blame President Trump.
Not only did he slap a 25% tariff on most Canadian products, he also told Canada that she isn’t cutting it as a country — but would make a great 51st state.
That did not go over well. According to Leger Opinion, a market researcher based in Canada, 36% of respondents who had a trip planned to the U.S. have canceled it.
That’s bound to take a toll on tourism. Canada sends more visitors to the U.S. than any other country, and they plunk down lots of money. Last year, Canadian travelers generated $20.5 billion in revenue, and many of those dollars were spent in places like Yosemite and Disneyland and Palm Springs.
California, in fact, is the second most popular U.S. vacation destination for Canadian travelers, exceeded only by Florida.
But now it’s looking like we can kiss some of that cash goodbye. Travel from Canada to the U.S. is already down, with some Canadian airlines reducing or even eliminating flights to the U.S.
But wait, it gets worse.
Not only are they avoiding travel to the U.S., Canadians also are boycotting American products. In some cases, Canadian stores have removed American products from their inventories. Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey, for example.
“A lot of American-made products have come off the shelves in Canada, which is tough,” Lawson Whiting, CEO of the company that produces Jack Daniels, told investors. “I mean, that’s worse than a tariff because it’s literally taking your sales away completely. ...”
It’s also a hard lesson on the ripple effects tariffs can have not only on the economy, but also on international relations.
12 pounds of fentanyl
Instead of nurturing the relationship with our northern neighbors, our president insults them by making up malicious lies to explain why Canada needs to be punished with hefty tariffs.
Here’s one: “The fentanyl coming through Canada is massive.”
Reality check: Between October 2024 and February 2025, 12 pounds of fentanyl were seized at the northern border, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. By comparison, almost 6,000 pounds were seized at the southwest border.
Trump also accused Canada of allowing hordes of immigrants to cross into the U.S. illegally.
Again, not true.
And his claim that the USA subsidizes Canada to the tune of $200 billion per year is just bizarre, in that no one seems quite sure of how he came up with that figure.
The trade deficit — if that’s what Trump is referring to — was $36 billion last year, mostly from the purchase of crude oil from Canada.
Statehood for Canada?
After accusing Canada of being a hotbed of drug trafficking, illegal immigration and freeloading, Trump more or less invited the nation to become our 51st state.
“... To be honest with you, Canada only works as a state,” he said in an interview. “As a state it would be one of the great states. ... If you look at a map they drew an artificial line right through it, between Canada and the U.S. ... somebody did it a long time ago ... many, many decades ago .... it makes no sense. It’s so perfect as a great and cherished state. ... Keeping ‘Oh Canada’ as the national anthem. I love it. I think it’s great. Keep it ... but it’d be for the state.”
As much as Trump may want to erase that “imaginary line,” that is never going to happen. This is another of his outlandish pronouncements intended to get a rise out of people.
That doesn’t make it any less of an insult, made worse by the fact that it’s directed at a neighbor who has our back.
When Southern California was going up in flames, for example, Canada offered firefighters, equipment and moral support.
It sent aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina. And during the Iranian Hostage crisis in 1979, Canadian diplomats helped their American counterparts escape.
Yet Trump boasts that the USA doesn’t need anything from Canada, ignoring the fact that we import significant amounts of crude oil, natural gas, electricity, minerals, lumber and other building materials from our northern neighbor.
Those construction materials will be in high demand once the massive rebuilding effort in Southern California gets underway — and will be even more costly, thanks to Trump’s trade war. The National Association of Home Builders estimates that tariffs on building materials could increase the cost of a typical home by $9,200.
Trump now claims that’s all part of plan, that after “a little disturbance,” America will be “rich again.”
Never mind that people who are already struggling to buy eggs and pay their electric bill may not be able to withstand a “little disturbance” — especially one that tanks their retirement accounts.
And that alienating our trade partners will do further harm to our own economy and to our neighbor’s.
Perhaps Trump will change his mind about tariffs. He’s flip-flopped before, and he could do it again.
But it will take far more than that to regain the goodwill of Canada and all the other nations our bully of a president has alienated.
Here’s a way to start: Recognize that diplomacy matters.
Then elect political leaders who will practice it — who will not equate ruthlessness with power; who will treat other nations with the respect they deserve, regardless of their place in the international pecking order; and who will seek to strengthen relationships that have survived for “many, many decades,” rather than destroy them.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "The US just lost one of her closest friends — at a big-time cost to California | Opinion."
