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Coincidentally, the implementation of the White House’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico coincided with my spring break trip to Canada. The tariffs were implemented on March 4, and a group of six college friends and I arrived in Canada on March 8. When we planned the trip almost five months ago, we had no idea that we would be arriving in the midst of historic tensions. In the four days that we were there, it became obvious to us that the tariffs were on the forefront of everyone’s minds. We chatted with a wide range of locals during our stay in Windsor, and each had strong opinions about the current situation. Upon hearing we were Americans, each of them felt compelled to give their opinion on the current tensions between our two countries.
Pulling up to the Canadian Border on March 8, my friends and I made a few jokes to ourselves about how the guards might not let us in because of the tariffs. When it was our turn to pull up to the guard, we handed over our passports and answered the standard questions about what we were doing, where we were going, and if we had anything to declare. I had been to Canada before, so I didn’t expect much trouble getting across the border. To our surprise, we were asked to pull to the side and park inside a building for a second round of checks. When we parked in the secondary building, an unfriendly, stone faced guard asked us to step out of the car and empty our pockets. After telling us to stand at the front of the car, the guard then explained that our luggage and all of the contents of the car would be searched. Mind you, as broke college students on a spring break trip, all seven of us and our luggage were piled into one car. Pulling everything out to be searched was no easy feat. After searching all of our bags and declaring us clean, the guards told us to go to another building to verify our passports. On the way, we passed a man being led away in handcuffs. After a short wait (and a quiz about my social security number), we were told that we were free to enter Canada. While in reality this was most likely a random search, in our minds it seemed almost a physical reminder of the tension brewing over the tariffs.
After dropping off our bags at the AirBnB, we decided to head to Walmart to grab some groceries for the trip. Ogling oddities like ketchup flavored potato chips, we filled a cart and headed to check out. While in line, we were approached by an older gentleman who spoke in a thick French-Canadian accent. “Are you all students?” he asked. After saying yes, he proceeded to give us a recommendation about a lower cost grocery store in the area. We thanked him, and mentioned that we were actually from the United States and were here on spring break. “Oh I see. You know it’s a shame what Trump has been doing. Canada has been by your side forever. We’ve supported you in every major conflict except Vietnam and now we get hit with tariffs.” Unsure of how to respond, we nodded along and passively agreed with him. He continued on, saying, “Don’t get me wrong, we all love Americans, we just hate what's going on right now. I’ll say one thing for sure though, f— Trump.” He then gave us some food recommendations and wished us a good trip.
Later that night, we decided to head out to a restaurant near our house. When we went inside, there was live music playing and it had a warm atmosphere. To us, it seemed to be a mostly local place that didn't see a whole lot of tourists. After talking to the waitress and chatting with the musician while on break, we quickly became “the Americans” of the restaurant. At some point or another, we talked to everyone about why we were there and chatted about different things like college basketball and hockey. After telling the musician that we were Americans from Kentucky, he played “Man of Constant Sorrow” and “Fortunate Son” in honor of our presence. Inevitably, the tariffs were brought up. A man in his mid twenties and appearing
to be the perfect stereotype of a hockey player, came over and bantered with us about being American. He jokingly made fun of us for it and brought up the USA team’s loss to the Canadian team in hockey. “We already saw who was best on the ice so we’ll see who wins this trade war.” Another man, also in his twenties, sat down with us and chatted about his opinions. “I’m even a conservative, that's the thing. I’m a huge fan of Pierre (the Conservative Party Leader) but what Trump is doing is not conservative, it makes no sense.”
The next morning was a Sunday, so four of us went to Mass at a church in downtown Windsor. It was a beautiful church, but obviously needed some restoration work around the walls and ceilings. During the service, small hints of Canada made their way into the otherwise familiar prayers and responses, causing me some amusement. Specifically, the pronunciation of “about” and “amen” by the priest and congregation gave me a smile. During the prayer intentions however, there was another reminder of the tariffs. In the otherwise regular intentions, the church prayed for “the most vulnerable suffering as a result from economic tensions.” After exploring the city during the day, we went out to a downtown restaurant for dinner that night. Our table sat in the corner, next to a TV that was playing Canadian basketball. Midway through dinner and discussion about our plans for the evening, I looked up to see a political attack ad against Pierre Poulievre, the leader of the Conservative party. Showing a smiling picture of Donald Trump and Pierre Pouilivre, the TV read “Pierre Poulievre is bad for Canada. He has deep ties to the Trump Administration.” In the moment, it seemed interesting to me that just being associated with the Trump Administration was all that was needed for an attack. Not to be outdone, an attack ad against Mark Carney, the newly sworn-in Prime Minister from the Liberal Party, aired soon after with just as much political ferocity.
We spent most of Monday hiking and exploring Point Pelee, a national park about an hour southeast of Windsor. That night we decided to pick up some pizza for dinner from a restaurant that had been recommended to us. While waiting for the pizza to be ready, we talked with another customer in the store who noticed our Louisville sweatshirts. After telling him we were Louisville students from Kentucky, he went on to trash talk UK basketball and John Calipari, much to our gratification. Eventually, the conversation shifted to talk about the bourbon industry in Kentucky. He was a huge fan, and was jealous that we lived so close to all the great distilleries. “It’s a shame though, it really is,” he said. “I went to the LCBO (liquor store) right before I came here, and they don’t have anything American anymore. No bourbon at all. Two weeks ago they were on the shelves but now with the tariffs they won’t sell them anymore. It’s going to have a huge effect on the job market too. I’m afraid unemployment might increase here as a result.”
Before starting our drive back Tuesday morning, we stopped at a few different stores in Windsor. When we left however, we decided to take the tunnel back to Detroit rather than the Ambassador Bridge that we had come in on. Coming to the American border checkpoint, we handed our passports over and answered a few questions before being told we were good to go. “Do we need to pull to the side or anything?” we asked, unsure if we would face a similar search as before. “Not unless you want to,” the guard answered back. With that, we began our drive back to Louisville.
While unplanned, the timing of our trip made for a fascinating look into the Canadian consciousness during the beginnings of the tariff implementation. Overall, everyone we met was extremely friendly and curious about what had brought us to their part of the country. It was obvious that there was a national anxiety related to the tariffs, with this anxiety spilling over into many of our conversations. Despite this, the Canadians we met had no ill-will for American people or the country in general, but rather a frustration with the leadership and inaction in both countries. As the effects of the tariffs continue to play out, time will tell how our neighbors to the north weather the economic storm.
Jacob Crowley is a McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville in the class of 2027. He is studying history with minors in political science and Spanish.