Canadian tariffs on American goods have cost Canadian families $92 in new taxes over the last two months, calculates the MEI

• If this trend persists, Canadian families could be out $549 in counter-tariffs by the end of the budget year.
• 77 per cent of Canadians say Canadian tariffs on American goods have increased the cost of essentials at home.

Montreal, July 29, 2025 – Ottawa’s counter tariffs on U.S. goods have added $1.51 billion in new taxes in April and May alone, says the MEI.

“Tariffs, whether they are applied unilaterally or in retaliation, are taxes by another name and they squeeze families just the same,” says Emmanuelle B. Faubert, economist at the MEI. “They artificially drive up the cost of goods imported into Canada, and it’s Canadian families and businesses who end up footing the bill.”

The Finance Department’s latest numbers show a 179.8 per cent increase in tariff collections when compared with the previous year, the result of Ottawa’s tit-for-tat response to U.S. tariffs.

This works out to $91.50 in new taxes paid for every Canadian household for the months of April and May alone.

If this trend persists, Canadians can expect to pay an extra $9.1 billion in new taxes over the course of this year. This would represent $548.97 in extra tariff costs per household by the end of the federal government’s budget year on March 31st, 2026.

Canadians already report being stretched thin. In a recent MEI-Ipsos poll, 77 per cent of Canadians said that retaliatory tariffs on American good contribute to raising the price of essentials at home.

Prime Minister Mark Carney conceded that a potential deal with the U.S. will likely include tariffs on certain Canadian exports.

In March, the MEI provided a better idea: ditch Canada’s trade barriers altogether, not just with the U.S., but with the entire world. A 2016 study for the Business Council of Canada found that unilateral free trade would boost Canadian GDP by 1.67 per cent and lower consumer prices in the country by 1.51 per cent.

“Protectionism should not be doubled down on,” says Ms. Faubert. “If we want to strengthen our economy, boost investment, and see standards of livings rise, we need to be tearing down barriers, not erecting new ones.”

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The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.

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