Donald Trump apparently expected Canada to retreat when his administration unleashed new tariffs, threatened to terminate trade and repeatedly mocked one of America’s closest allies.

Instead, Canada is digging in.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has stepped away from negotiations, imposed retaliatory tariffs and begun accelerating efforts to reduce Canada’s economic dependence on the United States. Even more troubling for the White House, polls reportedly show Canadians rallying behind their government’s resistance.

One Canadian manufacturing leader summarized the country’s increasingly defiant mood in three blunt words: “Have at it.”

Canada refuses to ‘bend the knee’

Trump and senior administration officials have repeatedly emphasized the enormous difference in economic power between the two countries.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued that Canada cannot sustain a “tit-for-tat” confrontation with an economy 13 times larger. He later compared Canada to a “little yippy dog” provoking a much larger German shepherd.

Trump has also joked about making Canada America’s 51st state, pushed to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” and threatened to “end all trade with Canada.”

But those insults appear to have hardened Canadian attitudes instead of forcing political surrender.

The New York Times reported that Carney is in no rush to restart negotiations. His government is concentrating on strengthening Canada’s domestic economy and expanding trade relationships with other countries.

An angry Canadian public is reportedly supporting that approach.

‘They can have at it’

Flavio Volpe, president of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, dismissed the idea that Canadian suppliers would be intimidated into submission.

The U.S. and Canadian automotive industries are deeply interconnected, with parts repeatedly crossing the border during production. Volpe argued that tariffs targeting Canadian components would rapidly disrupt American assembly plants as well.

“They understood that it would shut down the auto industry in a week,” Volpe said of an earlier U.S. tariff proposal.

He predicted that Washington would ultimately retreat. But if Trump refuses, Volpe added, “they can have at it.”

The comment captured the growing conviction that Canada possesses leverage despite being the smaller economy. A trade war would unquestionably damage Canadian companies and workers—but it could also interrupt American production, raise consumer prices and threaten jobs in politically important states.

Carney finds strength in public anger

Carney ended trade negotiations with Washington and imposed retaliatory tariffs on approximately $20 billion in American products entering Canada.

Polls cited by the Times indicate strong Canadian support for both decisions, although many voters remain concerned about Trump’s threat to escalate further.

That public backing gives Carney something Trump may not have anticipated: political room to absorb economic pain without immediately being blamed for it.

Economist Richard D. Wolff told AlterNet that Canada’s resistance reflects widespread public anger, not simply the prime minister’s personal strategy.

“He is the expression of something that he knows as a politician is now a very popular view in Canada,” Wolff said.

If Canadian voters believe American tariffs caused their economic difficulties, Wolff argued, they may direct their anger toward Washington instead of Carney.

Retaliation aimed at Trump’s political base

Canadian officials have suggested targeting products originating in states that supported Trump, hoping economic pressure will force Republican lawmakers and business leaders to intervene.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged Carney to focus on imports from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Texas and Wisconsin.

The retaliatory list reportedly includes economically significant products alongside more obscure items, including pencil-eraser bands, migratory-bird identification bands and fish-egg incubators.

Whether such measures can generate enough pressure to change Trump’s position remains uncertain. But the political message is unmistakable: Canada intends to make the consequences of the president’s trade policies visible inside his own coalition.

Trump’s threats carry risks at home

Trump has repeatedly issued dramatic trade threats that were later softened, delayed or abandoned. In January, he floated a 100 percent tariff on Canadian goods. More recently, he suggested ending trade entirely with countries maintaining surpluses with the United States.

The administration argues that aggressive tariffs can compel companies to relocate production, protect American workers and correct unfair trade arrangements.

Critics warn that tariffs on imported goods are often passed on to businesses and consumers through higher prices. Former Clinton economic adviser Robert Shapiro argued that imposing 50 percent tariffs on Canada, America’s largest trading partner, would worsen inflation.

The automotive industry could be especially vulnerable because its supply chains were built around decades of relatively open continental trade.

A tariff imposed at the border does not remain neatly contained in Canada. Its effects can travel into American dealerships, factories, paychecks and household budgets.

America’s allies are watching

Wolff believes the confrontation is part of a broader transformation in America’s global relationships.

European governments have also faced Trump’s tariffs, generating resentment among allies accustomed to working closely with Washington. According to Wolff, the cycle of economic attack and retaliation is “shaking up every corner of European politics.”

Trump’s strategy depends on the assumption that America’s economic weight will force smaller partners to accept his conditions. Canada is now testing that theory.

Carney is diversifying trade, retaliating against American products and refusing to rush back to negotiations. Canadian manufacturers are warning that U.S. industries will suffer alongside them. And public anger is strengthening rather than weakening the government’s resolve.

Trump tried to make Canada feel too small to fight back. Instead, his insults may have given the country something more powerful than economic size: a shared determination not to surrender.