Worried about layoffs and retirement? Steps you can take during a trade war

As tariffs rise and trade tensions escalate, many Canadians may be left wondering how their finances, job security and retirement plans could be affected by economic uncertainty.

As tariffs rise and trade tensions escalate, many Canadians may be nervous about how their finances, job security and retirement plans could be affected by economic uncertainty.

From potential layoffs to rising consumer prices and volatile markets, the impact of the trade war triggered by the U.S. on Tuesday could ripple through the economy in unexpected ways.

“This is going to be tough. The American trade war is going to hurt the Canadian economy, and it’s going to hurt all of us,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said while speaking to reporters on Tuesday.

“Over the past month, we have been working on measures that if these tariffs last longer than a few hours or a few days, we will be able to help Canadian citizens, Canadian workers, Canadian companies, make it through this time.”

U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20 per cent, sparking trade wars that could slam economic growth.

In retaliation, Trudeau said Ottawa was launching 25 per cent tariffs on C$30 billion worth of U.S. imports. Hundreds of thousands of jobs in sectors across the country will be at risk, premiers have said.

So what does this mean for Canadians who are concerned about their jobs, savings and retirement?

“We just don’t know how long this trade war is going to last. We understand that inflation could be taking off. It’s not going to happen tomorrow, and it’s not going to happen within the next 30 days, but it is going to happen three to six months out from now,” Moshe Lander, an economics professor at Concordia University in Montreal, told Global News.