‘Fighting with the Canadians about dumb stuff’: KIRO host says trade war has already cost WA $7.1 billion

As Washington bars brace for a ban on Canadian alcohol imports set to take effect Sept. 29, KIRO fill-in host Mike Lewis delivered a blunt assessment of the spiraling U.S.-Canada trade war.

“Here we are in history fighting with the Canadians all the time about all kinds of dumb stuff,” Lewis said on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “I didn’t ever think we’d get to a place like this.”

Lewis, a former newspaper reporter who once covered Canada as a beat, said the deterioration of the U.S.-Canada relationship is especially painful in Washington, where billions of dollars in trade flow back and forth across the border every year. Washington importers have paid an estimated $7.1 billion in Trump tariffs through June 2026 — the equivalent of $2,257 per household, according to Axios, citing National Taxpayers Union Foundation data.

“It’s cost us $7.1 billion apparently at this point,” Lewis said. “And it’s going to keep going.”

‘The neighbor that would make you not want to move’

Lewis praised how strong the U.S.-Canada relationship has been for the past century.

“Your dream neighbor, the neighbor that would make you not want to move to a new neighborhood,” he said.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning some imports of Canadian alcohol, as well as dairy products and motorcycles.

The move came after Canada imposed counter-tariffs on $20 billion in U.S. goods. Canadian provinces have also banned the sale of American alcohol products in retaliation.

Cornered with no lateral movement

Lewis acknowledged that the loss of Canadian whisky wouldn’t be a “dealbreaker” for most American bars.

“It’s not like people are lining up or going to your place because you have Canadian Club,” he said. “There’s still a ready supply of everything else.”

The broader dynamic is more troubling. Canada simply doesn’t have the economic heft to push back without hurting itself more, and the administration appears to be counting on that.

“When you corner someone, you’ve actually sort of eliminated their lateral movement,” Lewis said. “And in this particular case, that’s what’s happened.”

‘I win, you lose’

KIRO host Spike O’Neill didn’t mince words either.

“Donald Trump negotiates everything from an ‘I win, you lose’ perspective,” he said. “There is no negotiation in Donald Trump’s world that is a win-win situation. Trade agreements often, most always, are win-win situations. That’s why you enter into these agreements.”

Spike pointed to reports that the U.S. sought 11th-hour concessions during trade talks that would have limited Canada’s ability to negotiate independent trade deals with other nations. Trade negotiations collapsed on Aug. 21 after Canada walked away from the table, according to The Canadian Press.

“It’s the whole negotiation — ‘I win, you win, we both win’ — mentality that eludes this administration,” Spike said.

Cross-border traffic already down

Lewis noted that cross-border traffic between Washington and British Columbia has dropped considerably, hurting tourism and retail on both sides. Spike, who said he visits Canada every other year, said the trade dispute is a departure from the easygoing relationship the Pacific Northwest has long enjoyed with its Canadian neighbors.

“There’s some nobility, I think, that they’re standing up,” Spike said of Canada’s response.

Lewis chimed in with how the trade war could bleed into the upcoming NHL season.

“Hockey season’s about to start, and they’re going to be angry,” Lewis said. “Although they haven’t actually won a Stanley Cup in quite a long time, so maybe that’s something. I bet if they win a Stanley Cup, it’ll probably settle all this.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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