To My American Friends:

To my American friends:As many of you know, I have often jokingly referred to Canadians as polite Americans. Over the years, we have built a deep friendship and mutual respect for each other. However, considering the undeclared economic warfare the US administration initiated against us this weekend, I trust you understand our politeness has its limits. Canadians now see you not as a partner but as an adversary.

In simple terms, your country has initiated economic warfare against mine by imposing 25% tariffs on everything we send you. Our response is to charge 25% on everything you send us. As our Prime Minister stated, “We didn’t ask for this.”

To put this in perspective, several provinces will be removing U.S. wines and liquor from their shelves. These empty shelves will serve as a stark reminder to Canadians of the issue. In Ontario alone, California wineries stand to lose $1 billion in sales, and Kentucky bourbons are about to disappear from the shelves, leading to a significant loss of revenue. That’s just one province; there are nine more provinces and two territories doing the same thing. Cars are going to become more expensive on both sides of the border because automobile manufacturing has become transnational. There are North American manufactured cars, not just U.S. cars. (Personally, I would love to see a 200% tariff on Teslas.)

For those guacamole lovers, expect avocados to increase as Mexico responds. Up here, grocery stores are already marking which products are made in Canada. This will hurt California as we learn to do without strawberries in winter, preferring to wait until they are ready up here in late spring. Florida orange juice is on the tariff list, and the Florida and California citrus industries are about to take a hit. I can assure you, the price of eggs will be the least of your worries. These are small matters, but they result from economic warfare.

Some of you may be wondering how we got here.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the intention to implement a massive tax cut will only balloon your deficit. The belief that tariffs are the solution to this shortfall is misguided. Targeting your largest trading partner to cover the costs of poor policy is puzzling. If you buy our maple syrup, there is now a 25% tariff payable by the vendor, who has three options: absorb the 25% hit, pass on all or part of the increase to you and take the loss, or reduce the price or expenses to keep selling. Absorbing the cost is unlikely, which means your price for maple syrup will rise or people could lose their jobs. Yes, the U.S. Treasury will pocket the tariff, but it will merely offset the deficit created by the tax reduction. Don’t expect price reductions; instead, anticipate price increases. While I agree that the focus on maple syrup seems trivial, the effects on its price will extend to the costs of cars, houses, and anything else that involves purchases from a Canadian company.

As an aside, if you are a heavy-duty Temu customer, you’re going to pay the China tariff—something that was overlooked in the uproar. Your cheap items just became more expensive.

You may have also heard that we are being punished for being lax on our border and for supposedly acting as a funnel for fentanyl into the U.S. In reality, only about 1% of that substance—43 lbs last year—originates from Canada. The same holds true for illegal immigrants; for us, a caravan consists of roughly 10 people. Also, do you honestly believe people will sneak into the U.S. when the temperature is 20 degrees below zero? Clearly, you are being fed a significant lie or gaslit.

Your government is not kidding when it promotes the idea of squeezing Canada and, when we capitulate, assimilating us into the US. Really? That isn’t going to happen and, frankly, polite Canadians aren’t so polite when a bully kicks sand in our faces. Your Special Forces gained profound respect for our guys in Afghanistan when they discovered first-hand how Canadians demonstrated the “Find Out” part of “F**k Around and Find Out.”

As recently as this afternoon, February 3, after a call with our Prime Minister your President , according to the Canadian Press, was pretty clear about his intentions:

"What I'd like to see, Canada become our 51st state," Trump said from the Oval Office.

The president said he'd like to see vehicle manufacturing take place entirely in the U.S. and the country doesn't need Canada's energy.

Trump said if "people wanted to play the game right, it would be 100 percent certain they become a state." Keep this in mind when gas prices in your Mid West rise thanks to the 10% tariff on the Oil and Gas you get from Alberta or, if things get really bad, the lights go out in the North East U.S. as Ontario stops supplying electricity to New York state and others. As it is, electricity prices are most likely about to go up in New York thanks to the tariff.

What concerns me most is that your elected representatives are silent when an undeclared economic war is declared on their watch without consultation.

I don't know how this will end. I just want each of you to know we will still be personal friends, but I’m not sure if the same can be said about our countries.