ANALYSIS: Critics of retaliatory tariffs proved smarter than the Carney government
Voices initially critical of dollar-for-dollar retaliation, like Shopify’s CEO Tobi Lutke and Rumble’s CEO Chris Pavlovski are vindicated: retaliatory tariffs were a harebrained idea from the start.
What began as a bold show of economic nationalism in the form of tit-for-tat retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. has ended in a quiet retreat for Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government.
Today, voices initially critical of dollar-for-dollar retaliation, like Shopify’s CEO Tobi Lutke and Rumble’s CEO Chris Pavlovski are vindicated: retaliatory tariffs were a harebrained idea from the start.
When Carney stood at a podium in February 2025 and declared that Canada would hit back “dollar-for-dollar” against U.S. tariffs, many Canadians applauded. But just a few months later, the smoke has cleared — and political posturing has given way to economic reality.
During his inaugural Question Period yesterday as Prime Minister, Carney faced sharp criticism from interim Conservative Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer. Scheer accused Carney of misleading Canadians by lifting most retaliatory tariffs during the April election without public disclosure until May.
“During the campaign, it was ‘elbows up,’ then secretly, he dropped those tariffs to effectively zero,” Scheer charged, noting Carney’s promise of $20 billion in tariff revenue to fund his platform had evaporated
Carney’s response—that remaining tariffs had “maximum impact” on the U.S. while sparing Canadians—rang hollow when Oxford Economics revealed on May 15 that exemptions had nullified nearly all levies and the Canadian economy was still headed for recession.
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