As U.S. President Donald Trump puts pressure on Canada with new 35 per cent tariffs on August 1, Canadians remain divided over how Prime Minister Mark Carney should respond or if he is the right person to do so.
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute released Monday finds 63 per cent of Canadians believe Ottawa should take a “hard approach” in negotiations with Washington. Conversely, 37 per cent favour a softer line to avoid further escalation.
The data was collected both before and after Trump’s July 10 letter threatening tariffs on all Canadian exports.
The survey asked about supply management in the Canadian dairy sector.
Half of the respondents said Canada should stand firm, even if it risks trade retaliation from the U.S.
Over one-in-three, 35 per cent, said supply management could be on the table as a last resort, while just 15 per cent said Canada should offer to end the system outright.
Trump has singled out supply management in multiple public statements, as recently in his July 10 letter to Carney, accusing Canada of imposing tariffs “up to 400 per cent” on U.S. dairy and calling it a barrier to trade.
Canadians expressed strong opposition to U.S. demands over resource actions and banking regulations.
Seven-in-ten respondents rejected expanding U.S. access to Canadian water resources, including the Columbia River and the Great Lakes, which have both been subject to stalled or paused bilateral negotiations.
Two-thirds (66 per cent) oppose giving the U.S. priority access to Canadian critical minerals, and more than half oppose easing restrictions for U.S. banks (53 per cent) or increasing Canadian purchases of American-made military equipment (54 per cent).
Meanwhile, Canadians are divided almost evenly on Carney’s overall ability to secure a good trade deal.
Forty-six per cent said they are confident he can deliver a good deal for Canada, while 45 per cent are not. Among the confident, most cited trust in Carney’s leadership.
Among skeptics, 53 per cent said Carney is not the right person to negotiate with Trump, while 47 per cent said Trump himself is too difficult to deal with.
Over eight-in-ten Canadians said they are not confident the U.S. president will negotiate in good faith.
That number dropped to 11 per cent overall, including 20 per cent of past Conservative voters who believe he will.
The poll also found mixed views on the digital services tax on U.S. tech companies such as Meta, Amazon and Netflix.
The government eventually caved to Trump’s demand to scrap the tax after trade negotiations.
Regarding the digital services industry, forty-six per cent of respondents supported removing the DST as a concession to keep talks ongoing, while 33 per cent opposed it.
Canadian sentiment related to the auto sector remained defensive, especially while the sector suffered from thousands of job losses as manufacturers shut down plants.
The tariffs have prompted some companies, like Honda, to relocate to the U.S.
As a result, 61 per cent of Canadians demand either reduced tariffs or entirely tariff-free trade in the automotive sector.
The Carney government is expected to meet with provincial premiers at the Council of the Federation in Huntsville next week to discuss trade, just days ahead of Trump’s new August tariff deadline.