regina residents say tariff pause doesn't change plans to boycott u.s. goods, cancel trips
"even if tariffs get cancelled tomorrow, who's to say things won't change again for the worst."
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igor murashko and his partner have decided to cancel their much-anticipated vacation to florida in response to recent trade aggression from the u.s.
“why would we go to a country who’s government is hostile to us right now? america’s started trade war with us. we responded in kind. things aren’t good,” the regina resident said in an interview monday.
u.s. president donald trump threatened to impose a 10-per-cent tariff on canadian energy and a 25-per-cent tariff on all other canadian goods. while the levies were supposed to be effective tuesday, prime minister justin trudeau announced monday afternoon that the two countries would be postponing them for at least 30 days.
the couple was planning to go to miami for a 10-day trip at the end of april. it was something they were looking forward to, as murashko used to live south of the border.
now, murashko and his partner are pivoting with plants to go to mexico instead.
they’re not alone in their attempts to avoid doing business in the u.s. right now.
anthony carrol had the chance to see his favourite american football team, the denver broncos, play a home game against the pittsburgh steelers in september. but while the tariffs are in place he said he wouldn’t think about planning a trip again.
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“i would like to see them again in the future. i guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens. it would be nice in the future but probably not under the circumstances,” said carrol, adding that the next opportunity to see a broncos game would be in the fall when the season starts up again.
university of regina student anthony carrol sits for a portrait inside the university of regina on monday, feb. 3, 2025 in regina.
kayle neis
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regina leader-post
carrol, a third-year university of regina business student, says the next time he’s at the grocery store he’s going to be switching his snacks for canadian brands — reaching for hawkins cheezies instead of the cheetos, which are produced by a canadian division of the american snack producer frito-lay.
“i just think that the tariffs are senseless,” carrol said. “it’s really just going to hurt all the consumers.
“so instead of just rolling over and dealing with it, it makes sense to choose canadian and go about it that way.”
carrol added that trump deciding to delay the tariffs doesn’t change his stance. he wants a guarantee that they’re off the table or he’s “not really interested in supporting american products,” he said in a follow-up text message to the leader-post.”
logan culbertson typically opts for canadian or local products at grocery stories when there’s not much of a price difference between the options. while the possibility of tariffs remain a threat, he said he’s going to be spending a bit more time looking at product labels to source canadian-made items, as well as mexican.
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“because our agreement with mexico is still in place, i will be buying a lot more avocados to kind of replace a lot of the us-imported vegetables and fruits like that,” said culbertson, a third year accounting student at the u of r.
on sunday, the canadian government released a detailed list of retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion in goods — from meat and milk to carpets and curtains — which will also be postponed.
in the midst of this bellicose trade war, albeit stalled, murashko said his decision was partially born out of concern that canada’s response could increase prices in the u.s. and create an anti-canadian sentiment
“it’s easier to blame somebody else than self reflect and we are the other in this case, as crazy as that it,” said murashko.
“even if tariffs get cancelled tomorrow, who’s to say things won’t change again for the worst.”
another consideration, the declining strength of the canadian dollar in response to the tariff threats already. “it’s already expensive as hell,” he said.
murashko said the late-in-the-day reversal was not enough for him to change his mind.
“for the record, the tariffs now being delayed changes nothing i said. i’m not setting foot in the u.s. and avoiding buying american.”
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— with files from the canadian press
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