08:20 AM EDT, 04/01/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Canada is the junior partner in the entire North American economy and the country has never seen a rupture as is present today with the United States, said Rosenberg Research.

It will be an arduous task for Canada to retaliate in the trade war with the U.S., noted Rosenberg Research. Canada ships over 20% of its gross domestic product to America while the U.S. sends but 1% of its economic activity north of the border.

It never was anything but a lopsided economic relationship. But the polls show that what does exist in Canada is a level of angst high enough that "shared sacrifice" has become the mantra, stated Rosenberg. This even resonates in Quebec, where the Liberals are well ahead of the sovereigntist Bloc Quebecois Party.

However, Canada can indeed make things a little painful for their U.S. counterparts, pointed out Rosenberg. "Minimally uncomfortable."

Not just via export taxes, which even Prime Minister Mark Carney is now contemplating -- and that will bite when it comes to electricity, potash, nickel, steel, aluminum, uranium, and critical minerals in general, as well as the heavy oil that many American refineries need.

But there is something else, according to Rosenberg: travel. The missing story in the "rip-off artists" narrative is that the U.S. runs a huge trade surplus with Canada on travel/tourism services.

Canadians historically have been the top international travelers to the U.S. Now, there is a massive push to vacation at home. Florida is the largest beneficiary of this travel surplus.

However now, it's not even U.S. alcohol that is being pulled off the shelves at the wine and liquor stores, but the Canadian government is starting a campaign to encourage Canadians to change their vacation plans and focus on exploring sites within the country -- Peggy's Cove, Whistler, Banff, the CN Tower, Niagara Falls, the Muskoka Lakes, Algonquin Park, the Plains of Abraham, Old Montreal, and the list goes on.

The data show that this "staycation" strategy is working, added Rosenberg. Canadian residents returned from 13% fewer trips by air to the U.S. in February than they did a year ago; land-border crossings have collapsed (Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S.) by 23% from a year ago.

This may be the most effective retaliation because this ends up underpinning the local business sector -- tit-for-tat tariffs will only make matters worse for Canadian consumers, according to Rosenberg. A boycott of travel to the U.S. shouldn't be underestimated, considering that Canadians made over 20 million visits to the U.S. in 2024.

Cut that number in half, and that will pinch at least US$10 billion of lost spending in the U.S. and as many as 70,000 job losses in the U.S. leisure/hospitality sector.