These past four years have been a rollercoaster—to say the least. Anyone with the internet or social media should know by now that the United States is in election-mode. Every celebrity appears to be posting pictures with their “I Voted” buttons and encouraging their followers to do the same—which they should.

Until Nov. 3, we must sit back with the rest of the world and wait to see who Americans will vote in for the next four years. I suspect it’ll be another nail biter.

What will this mean for Canada? I don’t believe this is fully understood—yet—as no one can accurately predict the future.

What we do know is that Donald Trump decided to impose tariffs in 2018, which weren’t exactly great for our industry. And then there was the retaliatory tariffs brought in by Canada.

Gas-fired storage-type water heaters were the only industry product specifically targeted and faced the Canadian 10 per cent counter tariff. Some companies even found themselves paying both the U.S. and Canadian tariffs.

Those manufacturers in the U.S. with Canadian steel faced a 25 per cent tariff on steel and the 10 per cent Canadian counter-tariff when the finished product is imported into Canada.

Those tariffs were removed by the Trump administration in May 2019.

On Aug. 6, 2020, we saw some of those tariffs return, for only a short while. The U.S. announced tariffs of 10 per cent on certain aluminum products from Canada. On Sept. 15, 2020, they removed the tariffs, again.

As for the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden has vowed to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline project, which would connect the supply of Canadian crude oil with refining centers in the United States.

While it’s easy to discuss Trump because he’s spent the last four years in power, we’ll just have to wait and see who will emerge victorious. I just hope that whoever ends up being President for the next four years, they will work to improve Canadian–American relations.