A fresh round of 50 percent US tariffs on nearly $20 billion of Canadian goods, including dairy and down jackets, is set to hit August 19, and unlike most prior tariffs this one won't spare goods compliant with the CUSMA trade pact. Yet Canadian businesses are reportedly not rushing shipments across the border to beat the deadline, according to Janine Harker of the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers, who describes the mood as 'watchful waiting.'
The restraint reflects a now-familiar wager: that President Trump will soften or delay the tariffs, a pattern common enough to have earned its own acronym, TACO, for 'Trump Always Chickens Out.' Last summer saw frantic front-loading of shipments ahead of tariff deadlines; this time, exporters seem more resigned to the churn while still bracing for financial damage if the deadline holds.
The full dispatch is available from the source below.