Trump tariffs spark U.S. cruise boycott among Canadians
Canadians are changing their vacation plans as a patriotic movement sweeps the nation.
Although President Donald Trump agreed to pause his new tariffs on imports from Canada, the damage to the relationship between the neighboring countries has already been done.
A patriotic wave is moving over Canada as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to urge the Canadian people to “choose Canada.”
As Canadians unite to support Canadian businesses and boycott U.S.-made everything, Canadians are canceling vacations across the border too.
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“I’ve never seen this kind of patriotic movement, I moved to Canada 13 years ago, I’ve never seen this kind of bond as Canadians and doing something good for our country and the Canadian economy,” College of New Caledonia Tourism Instructor Dooseon Jung told Northern British Columbia’s CKPGToday. “That kind of movement is impacting our travel behaviours as a Canadian as well, and you will see probably more on this if this situation is going to be uncertain for a while.”
The new movement could lead to huge economic losses for the United States. Canada is the top source of international visitors to the U.S., and even a 10% reduction in Canadian travel to the U.S. could translate to $2.1 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
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U.S. cruise industry stands to lose Canadian cruisers
Canadian travelers have shown a growing interest in cruises, but the movement to choose Canada has many Canadians changing their minds about where to sail. Across social media channels, a number of Canadians are sharing that they’ve already canceled cruises departing from or visiting U.S. ports in favor of staying in Canada or sailing anywhere but the U.S.
One Threads user who reported canceling an Alaska cruise posted a photo from Vancouver Island looking across to the snow-capped Olympic Mountains in Washington with a cautious message.
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“Beautiful Vancouver Island, British Columbia. I am a proud Canadian! This is how close we are to the USA…the country we always thought of as our friends and neighbours,” wrote visibleafter50. “I’m hoping this can turn around, but rest assured we won’t forget. Once bitten twice shy. CanadaStrong”
Some Canadian travelers are also canceling cruises to other destinations because they were booked on American-owned cruise lines.
“We were planning a cruise to nordic countries, canceled it because the cruise line is owned by Americans,” wrote Threads user roeguerin. “Going to Cuba instead, where you would be hard-pressed to find anyone from the U.S.”
‘We show our support where we spend our money’
Another Canadian cruiser reported canceling a cruise to Hawaii.
“My wife and I are planning/had planned a cruise in Oct leaving from Vancouver, sailing to Hawaii for 6 days before coming back to the mainland to San Diego with an extra few days spent there before we flew back to Vancouver Island,” Infamous-Course4019 posted in the cruise community on Reddit.
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“Due to Trump's tariffs and trade war, we will not be spending the thousands of tourist dollars in the States any longer,” Infamous-Course4019 continued. “We have sent notice to the cruise line to cancel our trip (lots of time to get a full refund) and are now looking to spend 10+ days in Mexico or maybe Cuba or the D.R.”
“As Canadians, we can only show our support where we spend our money,” Infamous-Course4019 explained. “We were really looking forward to this cruise.”
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In the thread, American cruisers expressed their approval and desire to help repair the relationship with their neighbor to the north. Some even noted plans to travel to Canada to show their support with American dollars.
“As an American, I fully support this,” wrote Desperate-Revenue513. “We’ll be taking a trip to Canada for our cruise in September and look forward to supporting you there with our dollars.”
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