Did you have a trade war with the U.S. on your bingo card to kick off 2025?
After the U.S. slapped a 25% tariff on incoming Canadian goods, in response to the federal government’s apparent inaction on securing the border and fighting the war on fentanyl, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s response was a similar tariff on select goods from America.
Our 25% tarrifs will apply to goods originating from the U.S., as defined by the Determination of Country of Origin for the Purposes of Marking Goods (CUSMA Countries) Regulations. These regulations determine a product’s country of origin based on where it underwent its last substantial transformation
In Canada’s list of products part of the 25% tariffs, it also lists “video game consoles and machines,” interestingly enough.
This list was mentioned in the same section with “table or parlour games, including pintables, billiards, special tables for casino games and automatic bowling equipment, amusement machines operated by coins, bank notes, bank cards, tokens or by any other means of payment.”
Now, the first video game consoles that come to mind include the major ones like Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. But since Xbox consoles are primarily made in China, they are considered products of China for customs purposes. So they will likely not qualify as part of the the tariffs imposed on U.S.-based goods. The same goes for the PlayStation and Switch (owned by Japanese companies), as they will also be exempt. The only US-based video game console we can think of would be an…Atari?
The feds are also set to include passenger vehicles and trucks, including electric vehicles to see a 25% tariff applied. So any US carmaker will see tariffs applied, which would include the likes of Tesla.
President Donald Trump has said that if Canada retaliates with tariffs, it will push even more tariffs on the country. At the end of the day, Canada’s GDP is about one-tenth the size of the USA. Nobody wins in a trade war and the losers will be consumers and other companies that have relied entirely on the U.S. market.
How did Canada get roped into this trade war mess–along with Mexico– in the first place? What are you going to do? Buy nothing but ‘made in Canada’ and also cancel your subscriptions to Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, and more? Smash your iPhone with a hammer and go back to a BlackBerry?
