{"id":856003,"date":"2026-09-22T00:04:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T00:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/856003\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T00:04:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T00:04:38","slug":"idaho-has-plenty-at-risk-in-our-current-trade-war-with-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/856003\/","title":{"rendered":"Idaho has plenty at risk in our current trade war with Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sept. 17, Canadians woke to the following headline<\/a> in their nation\u2019s newspaper of record, The Globe and Mail: \u201c[Prime Minister] Carney\u2019s Davos Speech Diagnosed the Problem. His EU Speech lays out the cure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, the newspaper’s op-ed column touched many points of the globe: Ottawa to Washington, D.C. to Davos, Switzerland, back to Ottawa and then on to Strasbourg, France. And in between the lines was, of course, Boise, Idaho.<\/p>\n

Following what had become a routine back-and-forth war of words between President Donald Trump and Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister lit a fuse in January while addressing perhaps the highest profile gathering of world economists in Davos. Carney described a \u201crupture in the world order,\u201d and \u201cend of a pleasant fiction,\u201d as he described the Canadian\/U.S. trading alliance.<\/p>\n

Quite ironically, Carney\u2019s Jan. 20 speech at Davos was delivered on the first anniversary of Trump\u2019s second inauguration.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust is a very dangerous thing to lose,\u201d said Boise State Professor Dr. Ross Burkhart.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Trump has responded with an ever-growing list of tariffs<\/a> on Canadian goods.<\/p>\n

Alongside this, Trump has threatened to rename Lake Ontario<\/a> \u201cLake America,\u201d called Canadian officials \u201cclowns,\u201d and has dismissed Carney as a \u201cgovernor\u201d instead of a prime minister.<\/p>\n

In a more somber but powerful tone, Carney followed through on a previous warning when he initiated dollar-for-dollar tariffs on American goods. Soon thereafter, when Carney visited Strasbourg, officials of the E.U. offered Canada the rare opportunity of an \u201cassociate partnership\u201d with the Union.<\/p>\n

Which brings us to the Gem State. Canada is Idaho\u2019s top trading partner. In fact, Idaho’s next six trading nations \u2013 Taiwan, Mexico, Singapore, Japan, China and Malaysia, combined \u2013 total fewer Idaho exports when compared to what we send to Canada.<\/p>\n

Among many other products, Idaho sends gems, fertilizer, live animals, prepared vegetables, pasta, breads, cereals, dairy products and agricultural machinery. Imports from Canada to Idaho are just as bountiful, averaging about $1.2 billion annually. And that includes animal feed, softwood lumber, animal and vegetable fats, plastics, salt, sulfur, animal meats and firearms.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Presently], there are some very targeted and bitter types of tariffs,\u201d said Burkhart.<\/p>\n

The professor joined George Prentice for an in-depth analysis of the severity of the trade war.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s difficult to speculate when this trade war will end,\u201d said Burkhart. \u201cConventional trade theory would suggest that it ends when the pain is too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find reporter George Prentice\u00a0@georgepren<\/a>
Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio<\/p>\n