Jordan Alcasas
Social Media Editor
Zaib Shaikh, Canada’s consul general, gave a lecture detailing the stress that tariffs imposed by the United States on Canada and Mexico, and the reciprocal tariffs on the U.S., will cause all three countries. With tension already increasing, Shaikh also reflected on the friendship between the United States and its North American allies.
The lecture was presented at noon, on Wednesday, in the Ann and Steven Morgan Auditorium. About 120 people attended.
“I don’t want to mince words,” Shaikh said. “Disrupting the North American trade block (with tariffs) will also disrupt the United States economically.”
Tariffs are taxes on imported and exported goods. They are then passed on to the consumer resulting in inflation.
Shaikh’s lecture began with commentary about the relationship between the American states and Canada, where many of the northeastern states receive aid from Canada often. One of Canada’s many exports to the U.S., even including California, is electricity, where we’ve received over $600 million in electricity according to Shaikh.
Canada’s strong relationship with the U.S. lends them to being a close ally, and the open trade between Canada, Mexico and the U.S. is one of the strongest trade bonds in the world. This enables a healthy relationship where millions in exports cross borders every day.
“This has been one of the greatest relationships in the world,” Shaikh said.
But thanks to the Trump administration, this relationship is changing. Trump’s tariff policies threaten the relationship between the three countries, and especially Canada’s relationship with the U.S., Shaikh said.
The new tariffs violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that was formed in 2020. The USMCA is an agreement encouraging free trade between all three parties without tariff or unfair taxation.
“They’re illegal,” Shaikh said. “Not what the United States has decided to do, but what this administration has decided to do. In a way, each country, now, has huddled back to their corners.”
While tariffs will cause struggle in Canada, the U.S. will struggle just as much, if not more, for the lack of efficiency in imports and exports between the North American block who has historically depended on each other for survival. The U.S. has always been a large source of customers for Canada and Mexico, to jeopardize that relationship is seen as a major flaw within the current administration’s plans by Shaikh.
“Canada buys more U.S. goods than China, Japan, France and the United Kingdom combined,” Shaikh said. “I named some of the greatest nations in history, but guess what? Little old Canada gives you more value in an economic relationship even if we don’t get into borders and geography. If we just get into the economy alone, that is what we are talking about here.”
While the Trump administration believes Canada will suffer a trade deficit and struggle because of it with the newfound tariffs, Shaikh disagrees.
“The U.S. enjoys a trade surplus so Canada is actually in a deficit,” Shaikh said. “As discussed, the deficits aren’t actually bad because they like to build on facts.”
Additionally, Shaikh raised a point about the amount of energy from Canada that the U.S. receives. Canada’s energy security enables everyday life in the U.S., from the ability to listen to or read the news to doing something as simple as making a cup of coffee in the morning.
“I think we take our friendship with Canada for granted,” Natalie Vidarte, a sophomore computer science major, said. “I’m not into politics much but I agree with him thinking that the tariffs will hurt everyone across the border.”
The lecture ended later on with a round of applause for Shaikh. Students and faculty alike were well-engaged in the lecture with questions from the audience at the end of the lecture.
“We stood side-by-side with America in solidarity and all of that went up in smoke yesterday as of midnight,” Shaikh said. “We are a partner in that war, not your adversary. I’m really hoping that Americans understand this is not a fight between Canadians and Americans, it’s a refusal to believe in misinformation or the refusal of this administration.”
Jordan Alcasas can be reached at jordan.alcasas@laverne.edu.
Jordan Alcasas is a sophomore journalism major with a concentration in print and online journalism. He is the news editor for the Campus Times, and previously served as social media editor and a staff writer.
Olivia Russo is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print/online journalism and a minor in criminology. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Campus Times for Spring 2026. She has previously served as the News Editor, LV Life Editor, a photographer and a staff writer for the Campus Times, as well as a staff writer and photographer for La Verne Magazine.
