Kentucky governor says Trump’s tariffs on Canada are not what Americans voted for

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear says the U.S. tariffs on Canada are 'going to be incredibly difficult and challenging' for the people of his state.

The governor of Kentucky says U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on countries including Canada are not what Americans voted for and will cause “significant harm,” as prices south of the border to go up.

In an exclusive interview on CTV News Channel’s Power Play, Democrat Andy Beshear said that he believes that as the economic impact of the massive trade action becomes clear, “I believe that the people of Kentucky and the United States are going to feel betrayal.”

“It is going to be incredibly difficult and challenging for our people,” Beshear said.

“These tariffs, which are the result of one individual, are going to cause our prices of gas to go up. Are going to cause our prices of groceries to go up. Are going to raise the cost of housing all across the United States.”

Beshear told hold Vassy Kapelos that the vast majority of Americans view Canada as “one of our closest allies and friends,” and think the way the U.S. administration is treating this country is “wrong.”

“He and he alone has started this trade war,” the governor said of Trump. “We all certainly hope that there is a way that our leaders will move past this, because this relationship is far too important to have a trade war that ultimately raises prices and difficulties on both of our people.”

On Tuesday, in alignment with Trump’s 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on all imports and 10 per cent tariff on Canadian energy coming into effect, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hit back.

Canada’s retaliatory tariff plan includes two phases. The first targets $30 billion in U.S. goods, making it more expensive for key American industries such as Kentucky bourbon makers or Florida orange farmers, to sell their goods on this side of the border.

The second round of tariffs on a wider list of American products valued at $125 billion – spanning from machinery to motorboats – would come into effect a few weeks from now. The cross-border barrage of tariffs has already had impacts on the markets, and have workers worried about layoffs.

Donald Trump won the state of Kentucky with 64.5 per cent of the vote and received 663,000 more votes than Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. On Tuesday, Beshear said that Republicans voted for lower prices, “and that’s not what they’re getting.”

Canada is Kentucky’s top export destination, shipping over $9.3 billion in products to Canada in 2024. Kentucky also imports $6 billion in goods from Canada annually.

Beshear said that the longer this trade war goes on, pressure from the American people will increase.

“This is bad for the people of Kentucky. It’s bad for the people of the United States, and we shouldn’t be doing it,” the governor said.

Watch the full interview with the Kentucky governor in the video player above.

With files from CTV News’ Brennan MacDonald