Trudeau says Canadians will ‘keep booing the American anthem’ in response to Trump tariffs

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged that Canadians will continue booing the American national anthem at sporting events, saying it is a protest against U.S. trade policies rather than an attack on American teams or players.

“Yeah, we’re probably going to keep booing the American anthem,” Trudeau said. “But let me tell Americans, we aren’t booing your teams or players, we’re booing a policy that’s designed to hurt us.”

The widespread booing of the anthem at Canadian arenas has become a constant expression of frustration and anger from Canadians over escalating trade tensions between the two nations.

The friction between Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump has intensified in recent weeks, especially after Trump’s threats to impose new tariffs on Canadian goods, which went into effect at midnight.

Trudeau criticized the president's policies, saying “Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do,” he said, citing a Wall Street Journal analysis.

In retaliation, Canada has announced a sweeping set of countermeasures, imposing 25 percent tariffs on $155 billion worth of American goods, with the first $30 billion in tariffs taking effect immediately. The remaining $125 billion will be implemented in 21 days unless the U.S. withdraws its tariffs.

“Today we will also be challenging these illegal actions by filing dispute resolution claims at the World Trade Organization and through the USMCA,” Trudeau announced. “In the meantime, our tariffs will remain in place until the US tariffs are withdrawn and not a moment sooner. If the tariffs don’t cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures, which will demonstrate that there are no winners in a trade war.”