Trump’s Tariffs Hit Canada: Montreal Puts EU Cooperation in Focus

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Trump’s Tariffs Hit Canada: Montreal Puts EU Cooperation in Focus.

On the day the EU-Canada summit begins in Montreal, cooperation between Canada and the European Union moves to the center of attention. A report by Giselle Ucar for Le Monde and ARD New York dated 29.10.2026 describes a situation in which American trade pressure has already become a part of everyday life in Canada.

For many Canadians, the shock still runs deep. Jay, who lives in Montreal, talks above all about how unsettling the situation with the United States is: After long standing as its closest ally and neighbor, the country is suddenly facing constant new US punitive tariffs. This affects not only export-oriented companies. Supermarket shopping is also becoming more expensive. The monthly expenses of Elaine and her husband, for example, have risen from 500 to now 800 Canadian dollars.

The summit in Montreal is therefore not an abstract debate about trade policy. Tariffs are already changing prices and business prospects. At the same time, Canada is seeking additional trading relationships in order to become less dependent on the United States.

Why 50-Percent Tariffs Hit Small Businesses

The shock particularly affects small and medium-sized businesses. Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses CFIB, says that many of these companies have been fighting for survival for months because of the trade tariffs. Businesses with a customer base in the United States are hit especially hard.

A Canadian honey producer wrote to Kelly saying he was afraid of losing an important US customer whom he had supplied for decades. Since August, Canadian honey has faced 50% punitive tariffs in the United States. According to the report, the same applies to model railway parts made using a 3D printer, which another small Canadian company sold almost exclusively to the United States.

According to Kelly, customers’ immediate reaction was unequivocal: As soon as the tariffs took effect, customers put these very products back when shopping online. The additional price made the purchase unattractive. A long-standing customer relationship can thus quickly turn into a loss of revenue.

The impact of the tariffs is therefore not just a number in a statistic. It determines whether a long-standing major customer stays, whether exports to the neighboring country still work and whether a small business can maintain its current role in the market.

Why Many Small Companies Receive No Government Assistance

According to the CFIB, the eligibility threshold for support is C$1 million in revenue. Kelly says that many of the association’s more than 100,000 members receive no government support. The Canadian government’s relief measures benefit large companies for the most part.

“If you do not exceed the revenue threshold of C$1 million, then you have no access to any of the assistance programs,” Kelly said. In his view, this focus on large companies is shameful: The government supports big companies while smaller businesses have to make do without access to the programs.

This creates a concrete gap between those affected and the existing assistance programs. In particular, the companies that Kelly says have been fighting for survival for months often cannot benefit from measures intended for large firms.

CETA Is Expected to Do More Than Before

Kelly is betting on more trade with the EU. He explicitly welcomes Canada’s intention to trade more with the European Union in the future and become more independent of the United States. He hopes that this will finally lead to the Europe-Canada free trade agreement CETA being ratified by all EU member states.

For him, however, that is not enough. CETA has so far had no chapter promoting trade between smaller businesses in Europe and smaller businesses in Canada. Kelly would like to see an additional chapter of this kind. The agreement must also be expanded to include further trade facilitation, such as by removing bureaucratic hurdles that continue to exist.

This is precisely where the connection to the summit in Montreal lies. US tariffs are intensifying the pressure on Canadian businesses. At the same time, the EU offers an opportunity to expand trading relationships. How close this cooperation should be is therefore a question with direct consequences for manufacturers, small businesses and the prices Canadians pay in supermarkets.

The summit’s central significance

The report does not name any detailed decisions from the summit. However, it clearly describes what is at stake: 50% punitive tariffs on certain goods, higher shopping prices in Canada and a lack of government assistance for many small businesses. The EU-Canada summit is therefore taking place at a time when the economic pressure is already clearly visible.

From Kelly’s perspective, closer ties with the EU would nevertheless be more than a political signal. An additional chapter for smaller businesses, the removal of bureaucratic hurdles and the full ratification of CETA could open another market to Canadian companies. How far the governments will actually achieve this goal in Montreal cannot be determined from the report available.