Most Americans — including Republicans — continue to view Canada positively in economic and trade matters even as U.S. President Donald Trump directs anger at their northern neighbour.
That finding comes from new polling by Leger, Maintenant Media and Canada 338 that also says Americans trust that Canada is negotiating in good faith as the countries face an uncertain trade relationship.
"In the American general public, there's still some general goodwill towards Canada," said Andrew Enns, Leger's executive vice-president for Central Canada.
The survey polled 1,010 adults in the United States between Oct. 24 and Oct. 26 and can't be assigned a margin of error because it was conducted online.
Trump's tariffs have deeply rattled the longstanding relationship between Canada and the United States.
Trump has repeatedly subjected Canada to complaints and threats of annexation. He has claimed Canadian officials are hard to deal with and made misleading statements about trade with Canada.
Prime Minister Mark Carney seemed to steady relations during two White House visits where he received praise from the president, but it did not last long. Trump again suspended negotiations last month after Ontario sponsored a TV ad quoting former president Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.
Enns said the survey didn't get into specifics around the Ontario ad but asked generally how Americans are feeling about trade negotiations and how they see Canada as a partner.
Democrats overwhelmingly had positive views of Canada. Most Republicans and Independents saw Canada as a good trading partner, but not to the same degree.
The poll indicates that 75 per cent of Americans said they either trusted completely or somewhat trusted Canada's intentions to negotiate in good faith. That number was 90 per cent for respondents who identified as Democrat and 67 per cent for Republicans.
Respondents were asked a similar question about Trump's administration and a lower number — 52 per cent — said they had trust it would negotiate in good faith.
It was significantly higher among Republicans – 85 per cent – compared with Democrats – 32 per cent.
"I am from California and we would like to be one of the provinces of Canada," said Roger Anderson, 63, who was taking part in an anti-Trump protest near the White House Wednesday.
Anderson said "we're the ones that tore up the treaty that this president signed with (Canada) back in his first term."
The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known as CUSMA, was negotiated during the first Trump administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump at the time described it as the best deal ever.
CUSMA is up for mandatory review next year and some experts and trade lawyers say Trump's tariffs undermine the continental trade pact.
Trump boosted economywide duties on Canada to 35 per cent in August but those do not hit goods compliant with CUSMA. Canada is also being hammered by separate tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles, copper and lumber.
Kristen Hay, who was also at the anti-Trump rally near the White House, said it would be a shame if the relationship with Canada was ruined.
"They haven't had good-faith negotiations with Canada and I think this administration has ruined the reputation of America," said the 42-year-old from Indiana.
The poll suggested 22 per cent of Americans, when thinking about the economic and trade relationship, saw Canada as a close ally. Thirty-six per cent saw Canada as a friendly partner and 30 per cent saw the country as a neutral neighbour.
Nine per cent thought Canada was an unfriendly neighbour working against American interests and four per cent said it was an adversary.
Enns said the opinion of Canada has taken a little bit of a dip from previous surveys, but it remains high.
The polling also found Carney had fairly low name recognition among Americans; 63 per cent said they didn't know the prime minister well enough to weigh in.
Scott and Cortney Bloxham were visiting Washington from Oklahoma on Wednesday.
"We're from the south. I don't think we have animosity towards anybody, except maybe Texas and their football team,” Cortney Bloxham said with a laugh.
"It's a good place to go deer hunting," Scott Bloxham added when asked about his opinion on Canada.
The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
