Ottawa is right to tell provinces to stay out of U.S. trade fights. Trump’s 10 percent tariff hike after Ontario’s ad shows one province can raise costs for the country. The hike adds a border tax, called a tariff, on goods at the U.S. line. Only the federal government can run international trade talks under section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867, the trade and commerce power.
Collection and Consequences
A U.S. tariff hits at the port, then someone pays. Sometimes the Canadian exporter eats the cost to keep a U.S. customer. Sometimes the U.S. buyer pays more and buys less from Canada. The collector is CBP, the U.S. border agency that collects tariffs. CBP says it enforces presidential tariff orders and takes in hundreds of millions in extra duties each day. When Ontario aired its ad in the World Series, the White House got a political pretext. Trump then said he would lift tariffs by 10 percent on Canadian imports, which raised the cash CBP would collect at entry, according to Reuters on October 25, 2025.
Who Controls The Trade
Trade is a federal file, not a provincial one. The prime minister sets talks, the finance minister sets counter moves, and the border agencies enforce. After Trump froze talks, the prime minister said Canada’s team was ready to resume detailed sector work. In short remarks at Ottawa’s airport, he said, “We stand ready to pick up on that progress and build on that progress when the Americans are ready,” as reported by Advisor.ca. That line matters because it marks talks as a federal job, not an open mic for provinces.
Enforce At The Border
The United States is using IEEPA, a U.S. crisis trade law, to justify new tariffs, and CBP enforces them at the dock. A U.S. appeals court later found most of those IEEPA tariffs illegal, but allowed time for a Supreme Court appeal, which keeps collection going for now.
Trump has made his test clear in a public statement, saying, “Tariffs are very important to the national security, and economy, of the USA,” as quoted by Euronews on October 24, 2025. That quote shows he sees border taxes as a pressure tool, so ad hominem ads invite a punch back.
Provinces can run programs inside their borders, but they do not set tariffs or cut trade deals. Parliament holds the trade power under section 91. The prime minister can choose when to retaliate with counter tariffs, a hit back tax, or when to pull them to cool talks. The finance minister can fund relief for hit sectors so plants keep people on payroll while talks grind on. The U.S. president can raise or lower tariffs under IEEPA until courts or Congress stop him, then CBP collects or refunds at the border.
The take is simple. Keep provinces out of U.S. trade fights, or Canada pays cash at the dock while Ottawa loses the only leverage that counts in talks. If the Supreme Court later kills IEEPA tariffs, the need for discipline does not change, because CBP can still enforce other U.S. tariff tools the next day.
