‘It hits us in our pocketbooks’: Spike breaks down the U.S.-Canada trade war’s impact on WA

The U.S.-Canada trade conflict intensified Tuesday following Canada’s imposition of retaliatory tariffs between 15% and 50% on about $20 billion worth of American goods, a move that corresponds to the 50% tariffs the U.S. had started applying to Canadian products on Aug. 22. The tariffs were introduced after the final attempts at trade negotiations had failed, with both sides placing the blame on the other for the collapse.

Spike O’Neill, co-host of “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, walked through both sides of the dispute and said the fallout is heading straight for Washington.

Spike says neither side is fully credible on why talks failed

Spike laid out the competing narratives: Canada said the U.S. pushed last-minute demands that would have limited Canada’s ability to finalize independent trade agreements with other nations, including China, and tried to eliminate bilingual labeling requirements on U.S. products entering Canada. The U.S. denied both claims.

“I find it pretty unbelievable that the Canadian prime minister would make such a claim that the U.S. was trying to drop these requirements for bilingual messaging on U.S. products going into Canada,” Spike said. “I think it’s pretty far-fetched to assume that he would just make that up out of whole cloth.”

But he was equally skeptical of the U.S. response.

“I can fully believe, however, that the president would completely deny and name-call in a Truth Social post and claim how much he loves French Canadians,” Spike said. “So we really don’t know where the talks broke down.”

Spike warns WA will feel this in its pocketbook

Spike connected the trade war directly to local consumers and businesses, noting that the tariffs will affect cross-border commerce, shipping and everyday purchasing.

“These tariffs are going to impact local businesses, local commerce, people coming to Washington to buy, Washingtonians going into Canada to buy, or shipping across borders,” Spike said. “It’s all affecting us in our pocketbooks. That’s where it hits us the most.”

He also pointed to the new Prince Rupert port as a competitive threat to the Northwest Seaport Alliance in Seattle and Tacoma, which shipped roughly 22.5 million tons of cargo in 2025. Prince Rupert, he said, can now handle 26.3 million tons, about a fifth of what flows through Vancouver.

Laura Scott noted the irony of the situation.

“People voted him in for cheaper goods and products, right?” Laura said. “The eggs, bird flu at the time.”

“We’re not getting the inflation relief we were promised in the campaign,” Spike responded. “We’re not getting any kind of affordability relief from this administration at all. And it flies in the face of what was promised.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3