“Tariffs are a tax on hardworking Americans,” one billboard reads.
“Tariffs are a tax at the gas pump,” warns another.
These anti-tariff messages have popped up on digital billboards across metro Atlanta over the past week, all paid for by the Canadian government. On a screen in an elevator of a Georgia government office building last week, a digital ad popped up saying, “Tariffs are a tax on your grocery bill.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The messages are part of what Canadian officials are calling “an educational campaign to inform Americans of the economic impacts of tariffs,” John Babcock, spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said in a statement. “The purpose is to increase the understanding of the American public and to counter misinformation.”
The campaign comes as President Donald Trump has started a trade war with Canada, historically one of the U.S.’ closest allies. He ordered 25% tariffs on all imports from the country at the beginning of February, though he lowered the tariffs on Canadian energy products to 10%.
After pushback and threats of retaliatory tariffs from Canada’s leaders, Trump postponed tariffs on goods that comply with the free trade agreement for North American goods Trump negotiated during his first term in office.
But the levies could be instituted in full as soon as Wednesday. That’s the same day Trump is set to announce a slew of tariffs on foreign trade partners. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Trump during a call on Friday that he would implement retaliatory tariffs in response to U.S. import taxes, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
Tariffs are taxes on imported goods. Trump has touted the import taxes as a way to boost domestic production of goods and return manufacturing jobs to the U.S. He has also used tariffs to seek concessions for border security and to stem the cross-border flow of drugs.
Canada’s top exports to the U.S. are oil (about $108 billion), autos (about $43 billion) and auto parts (about $14 billion). Meats and baked goods also were high on the list. Trump recently announced he would be imposing 25% tariffs on all imported cars and auto parts, which are set to go into effect starting Thursday.
The flow of goods also goes the other way. Canada is in the top three buyers of Georgia-made products, alongside Mexico and China.
But it’s not just Canadian officials who consider tariffs inflationary. Most economists agree tariffs raise prices because the taxes typically are passed along by businesses to the buyers of products, whether the buyers are manufacturers obtaining parts that go into other things or a consumer shopping at a store or online.
Tariffs also are supposed to increase prices not just of imported goods, but domestic ones as well, to entice American companies to produce more of that good at home because they can make more money, according to experts. That’s how domestic production is boosted.
The Canadian government considers the anti-tariff digital billboards “a strategic investment in Canada’s long-term economic interests, and its trade relationship with the United States,” Babcock said.
They are in nearly a dozen states across the country, as well as around the nation’s capital. The states targeted for the ad campaign are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington D.C. and its surrounding areas, according to Babcock.
— Senior editor Charles Minshew contributed to this report.
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