It’s no secret to anyone who’s been paying attention that Canada and the U.S. are in a bit of a spat at the moment. Between 25% tariffs levied on billions of dollars worth of Canadian goods—and counter-tariffs imposed on just as many American products—and Trump repeatedly referring to Canada as the “51st state,” folks here in Canada understandably have their backs up—or their “elbows up,” so to speak.
I’m not going to wade into the politics of the trade war here, except to say that, as is usually the case for me, I can see the arguments on both sides, and I can also see how politicians on both sides are using this situation to amass more power and, ultimately, control over everyday people like you and me. And as per usual, it will be everyday folks like us who take the hit—not the politicians and elites at the top. That is one truth that has stood the test of time when it comes to power and politics, no matter which team you’re rooting for.
But enough about that. This post is about the practical side of dealing with the fallout of this trade war, and what it has to teach us about the importance of self-reliance, both as individuals, as communities, and even as nations.
How the Trade War Will Affect Everyday People
While tariffs may not sound like a big deal to anyone who’s not well-versed in politics or economics, the domino effect is far-reaching, surpassing the industries on which the tariffs are levied and trickling down to everyone—arguably the only type of “trickle-down economics” that actually works. For starters, Canadians and Americans on both sides of the border will pay higher prices for everything from cars and construction materials to fruits and vegetables. As if life weren’t expensive enough already *eye roll.*
Not to mention, we’re talking potentially hundreds of thousands of jobs lost here in Canada, and a hit to certain industries like agriculture and manufacturing on the U.S. side too. It will definitely hurt Canada the most, as our economy relies heavily on the U.S.—as the saying goes, “when the U.S. sneezes, Canada catches a cold.”
But it will hurt Americans too, with certain industries like manufacturing and farming relying heavily on exports and imports to and from Canada. This could lead to job cuts or reduced hours, and less revenue for farmers who export large amounts of food to Canada.
On the food front, Canada relies heavily on importing fresh foods from the U.S., with more than 56% of our imported food coming from the U.S. That’s a pretty sizeable amount when you consider that roughly 75% of our fruits and 50% of vegetables are imported from elsewhere.
And considering Canada has placed counter-tariffs on every type of food imaginable that we import from the U.S.—from fruits and vegetables to meat and dairy products to pasta, beverages, snacks, and more—the cost of food is only going to continue to rise on this side of the border, at a time when food is already more expensive than ever and reliance on food banks is already at record high levels.
Not to mention, Canada’s has imposed counter tariffs on all sorts of other U.S. imports as well, including everything from appliances and electronics to clothing and personal care products to alcohol and firearms to books, blankets, and beyond. (Seriously, just about everything we import from the U.S. has been slapped with a 25% counter-tariff. If you don’t believe me, just scroll through this list as quickly as you can and time how long it takes you to get to the end).
Add to that, almost half of Canadians are already living paycheck-to-paycheck, and anywhere from 30% to over 50% of Americans can say the same. Plus, consumer debt is at an all-time high, with the average Canadian (non-mortgage) consumer debt reaching more than $21,000 CAD in 2024, and totalling $2.5 trillion CAD in outstanding balances—an all-time high.
Things aren’t much better in the U.S., with total non-mortgage debt totalling over $18 trillion USD in 2024, or an average of over $23,000 USD per person.
And then there’s the housing bubble, which has grown so big that home ownership is increasingly becoming out of reach for younger generations, with private homes already falling into the hands of nefarious investment firms like Blackrock and Vanguard while we are on the fast track to “owning nothing and being happy(?)”
My husband and I left the big city of Vancouver, B.C. almost 10 years ago now to start our little homestead on Vancouver Island. Housing prices were unaffordable in Vancouver then, with the average single family home going for almost a million dollars. Now the average price of a home in Vancouver has skyrocketed to almost $1.2 million CAD (roughly $820,000 USD), with single family homes in Vancouver averaging over $2 million CAD (roughly $1.4 million USD)—roughly 14 times higher than the median after-tax household income.
While I love our little 1/4-acre lot, and we have made the most of it, growing and producing hundreds of pounds of our own food every year, we do have a dream of someday upgrading to more property, but increasingly that’s feeling more like a pipe dream, with acreages averaging well over $1 million CAD here on the north island.
And so the story goes for just about every city and small town across North America. While we are at the extreme end of housing prices here on the west coast of Canada, just about everybody everywhere is feeling the pinch of higher home prices that are increasingly squeezing anyone who still has a mortgage, and making home ownership a thing of the past.
But what do consumer debt and housing prices have to do with a trade war? Well, when people who are already living paycheck-to-paycheck lose their jobs en masse (like we are likely to see happen here in Canada), they may well end up in a position where they aren’t able to service their debts, including both consumer debt (credit cards and loans) as well as mortgage debt. And what happens when folks can’t pay their mortgage? The bank forecloses on them and, if that happens on a large enough scale, the housing market begins to crash.
Of course, as we saw in 2008, this can and will send shockwaves through the entire economy. No one will be immune. BUT, those who prepare and implement changes in their lifestyle and consumer habits to make them more self-reliant and resilient will be in a much better position to weather the storm when it inevitably hits. Which brings me to the real point of this article…
What the Canada-U.S. Trade War Can Teach Us About the Importance of Self-Reliance
According to Trump, one of the major reasons for implementing tariffs in the first place is to bring jobs back to America. It’s true, the U.S. has outsourced and off-shored way too much of its production over the past several decades, which significantly impacted American manufacturing jobs in industries ranging from cars and automotive to textiles and apparel to electronics and consumer goods. I’m not arguing the fact that tariffs may well be the solution to the problem that was created by outsourcing production to other countries in the name of cutting costs. But the reality is that, once again, the average American (and Canadian) is the one who will bear the financial burden while the U.S. corrects course and works to bring those jobs back home. This is just the reality of the situation.
Right away, this is a lesson in the importance of self-reliance, because had the U.S. never outsourced those jobs in the first place, the country as a whole would be more or less self-reliant already, without having to depend on other countries (like Mexico, China, and Canada) to manufacture and supply so many of the goods and products it depends on. In other words, self-reliance is as important on a national-scale as it is on an individual one.
And then there’s Canada—Oh Canada. Had we not become so complacent and wilfully reliant on the U.S. market for both imports and exports ever since the implementation of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), and the subsequent North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), we would be in a much better place as a country right now (notwithstanding the damage done to our country by our own government over the past 10 years, but that’s a blog post for another day).
Now everyone from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland is being encouraged to “buy Canadian,” even while our own inter-provincial trade laws are themselves more prohibitive in many cases than our cross-border trade laws have been for the past 30 years. The problem? So many of our goods are imported from the U.S. that it can be difficult to source Canadian-made, grown, and raised products, and when we are able to source them, the prices are often already at a premium due to higher production costs and—in the case of agricultural products—due to our shorter growing season.
Not to mention, even “Canadian made” products often rely on materials sourced from elsewhere. Thanks to our complex global supply chain, both Canadians and Americans rely heavily on other countries for everything from parts to processing. Whether it’s natural resources from across each other’s borders, cheap labour from Mexico or pharmaceuticals from China and India, neither of our countries is truly self-reliant when it comes to just about anything we produce (and need).
All of this to say, I think the biggest silver lining of the trade war so far is the fact that it has opened up many people’s eyes to the importance of onshoring the production of essential goods and becoming more self-sufficient on a nationwide level. Because while a trade war between Canada and the U.S. is going to hit both economies hard, just imagine what would happen if, oh, I don’t know, we were suddenly at war with China and couldn’t get any of the goods we rely on that country for. Increasing production at home is a net positive overall.
That being said, I’d rather Canada and the U.S. work together like the good friends and neighbours we’ve always been. I adore my American readers, colleagues, and friends—and as the editor of U.S.-based Homestead Living magazine, I would love nothing more than for shipping to Canada to be easier and more affordable, if only so that my dear mother could subscribe and get a copy each month!
But alas, it is what it is, and we are where we are, and while it’s not a particularly good place to be, the silver lining is that it is teaching us a valuable lesson about the importance of self-reliance on a national and even community-scale.
I have long been preaching the importance of supporting your local farmer and small businesses, and no matter where you live, I still encourage you to do so. Buying Canadian if you’re in Canada is a good start, but buying local—as in, as close as possible to where you live—is even better. The same goes for the U.S.—buy American if you can, and buy local whenever and wherever possible. Not only will you be supporting your local economy, but you’ll be ensuring those local farms, small businesses, and producers of food and essential goods will still be there when you need them, and won’t have been swallowed whole by the Walmarts and Amazons of this world.
But beyond buying local and becoming more self-reliant as a whole, let’s talk about individual self-reliance, and the lessons we can take away from this trade war when it comes to our own personal responsibility to produce what we can and take care of ourselves…
The Value of Individualism and Personal Responsibility in the Age of Tariffs
The dictionary defines individualism as “the habit of being independent and self-reliant.”
While I certainly see the value of collectivism in certain circumstances (like having certain social safety nets in place to help those in true need), in general it will probably come as no surprise that I’m largely pro-individualism, and pro-personal responsibility.
The reason for this is largely because when we work toward becoming more self-reliant and taking more responsibility for our own lives and needs, we naturally become less reliant on external forces and that makes us each more powerful as individuals, and (ironically) as a collective society.
When we are more self-reliant, not only are we less vulnerable to things that are beyond our control—such as trade wars, pandemics, economic pressures, natural disasters, corporate greed, and even authoritarian overreach. At the same time, self-reliance gives us greater financial freedom, allowing us to choose how, where, and with whom we spend our money. By creating a buffer for ourselves, we gain flexibility and control over our financial decisions, rather than being at the mercy of an unpredictable world.
When we focus our efforts on learning skills and investing in items that will help us to produce more and consume less, we are essentially building up our immunity to the instability of the modern world. Instead of being entirely dependent on fragile supply chains, fluctuating markets, or government interventions, we create a level of security that allows us to thrive regardless of external circumstances.
This doesn’t mean rejecting community or refusing to participate in society—it means strengthening ourselves so that we can engage with the world from a place of stability and confidence rather than desperation and fear. It also means we create at least some peace of mind that helps us to better cope with the mental and emotional stress of situations such as the one we’re in now.
Plus, when more individuals take responsibility for their own needs and well-being, the collective benefits as well. A society made up of strong, capable, and self-sufficient people is far more resilient than one in which everyone is waiting for someone else to solve their problems.
In the end, self-reliance isn’t just about independence—it’s about empowerment, adaptability, and the freedom to live life on our own terms, no matter what’s going on in the world outside our doors (or beyond our garden gates).
So, what can we do to mitigate the effects of tariffs on our households, communities, and countries—on both sides of the border? I’m glad you asked!
There are many practical things you can do right now to become more self-reliant and weather the economic storm that we’re headed into. I recommend checking out the list of related posts below for more practical “how-to” information on things you can do to take greater control over your own freedom and independence, in both good times and hard times.
In the meantime, I’d love to know, what are your thoughts on tariffs and the trade war?
How will it affect you personally, and do you feel the tariffs are a net positive or negative?
Most importantly, what are you working on to increase your self-reliance and independence?
I’d love to hear from you and keep this conversation going, so please share your thoughts in the comments below.
To growing and thriving together (no matter what comes our way),
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I am in Washington state and bring in my meat bird feed from Canada. If I did the math correctly, I’ll be paying $45 dollars more per barrel of chicken grower. Ouch! I am still coming out ahead if I compare costs to scratch and peck (which is absolutely outrageous) but it’s going to hurt. I had ordered the barrel of starter before the tariffs kicked in so at least I can be grateful for that.
The cost increases are pretty staggering. You’re smart to have stocked up ahead of time! I’m personally very glad I ordered my freeze dryer back in the fall. The import fees were already outrageous but it would simply be out of reach if I had waited. Definitely a good lesson in stocking up and being prepared!
Anna, after seeing everything we in America are being charged tariffs on from all over the world, it has begun to make sense why our country has taken this stance of equalizing the playing field. None of want to starve each other or make things impossible, we as Americans just want things to once again become fair and that is up to the leaders to hash out. I think just like we learned a few years ago when we had supply chain issues and other things that made shopping difficult, many of us learned and became a bit more self-sufficient, shopped local, networked with others in our communities, etc. We recently became lax and just have to go back to that thinking or bring the younger ones that weathered the storm while at home or in college or not paying attention and teach them what we have learned. The skills of baking bread, DIY projects, simple repair jobs and even just waiting for the next shiny new object to come out are things we older generation, (I am in my 60’s), need to teach while these storms pass. Summer is coming, plant a garden, get to know your neighbors and local farmer’s markets and stick together. Thank you for your thoughts and Canadian perspective of current events.
I think in many ways this will be a good thing. My worry is more about the power grabs being made. As a Canadian, I am worried that Trump is leveraging this to kneecap Canada and take us over. I think that’s a legitimate concern among many Canadians who would like to maintain our sovereignty. On the other hand, this crisis is exactly what our Liberal party needed to all but guarantee them the next election, and I think they knew about it ahead of time. It’s convenient that Trudeau “resigned” and they were able to appoint Mark Carney in his place, whom many Canadians are now convinced is our only hope (thanks in large part to our propagandized media). But Mark Carney is far more dangerous than Trudeau, and is a globalist in every sense of the word who has said he plans to “use emergency powers” to deal with the tariffs. The last time our government invoked emergency powers they froze people’s bank accounts, so I’m very concerned about what they will justify in light of the trade war and a spiraling economy. It feels like we’re caught between a rock and a hard place up here:(
Anna, this was a very well thought article. Sourcing local, building local relationships, growing what you can, leads not only to self reliance, but stronger community. No man can be an island, to paraphrase.
As far as the tarrifs go, Americans for the most part, understand that there wiĺl be some pain to be dealt with before things get better. Tarrifs are being used as a bargaining chip. America and Canada will weather this, and both come out better for it in the long term. Homesteaders and preppers will weather the storm better than others.
I hope you’re right! I just hope people are ready to buckle up and weather the storm. We’re as prepared as we can be, but it’s often other people’s reactions and eventual desperation that worry me the most.
Thank you for sharing from a common sense perspective! The internet is exploding with so many angry words that I almost didn’t read this article when I saw the title. I just didn’t want to read more drama. But oh how thankful I am I risked it and clicked through. What a breath of practical fresh air! Thank you!
Being rather independent in personality I usually lean towards keeping as much “in house” as possible is best. I had not considered applying it to national and even international situations. Duh! It’s so obvious I am embarrassed to admit I haven’t considered this before.
Thank you for taking the risk and bringing this conversation “to the table”. I am very grateful.
Thank you Rebecca! I tried to not make this about politics (especially because I’m not aligned with either side), but rather about the real impacts this will have on everyday people, and the lessons we can all take away from this and apply in our own lives.
I’m glad you enjoyed it!