Canadians will go to the polls Monday amid fresh concern about how badly President Donald Trump’s relentless trade war against this country will harm the economy.

The president, who had recently said little about Canada, signalled this week his intention to keep tearing up the Canada-U.S.-Mexico (CUSMA) free-trade agreement that he negotiated in 2018.

“I really don’t want cars from Canada,” Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office. “All we're saying is we don't want your cars, with all due respect," Trump said, adding he wants to seeremarked U.S. cars made by American workers. "We don't need their oil. We don't need their lumber. We don't need their cars, we don’t need anything," Trump added of Canada.

He also said that, while there are no plans for an immediate increase in import levies on Canadian-made vehicles, the tariffs could go up at some point. “I put tariffs on Canada. They are paying 25 per cent but that could go up in terms of cars,” Trump said.

All imports of automobiles to the U.S. were hit with tariffs earlier this month. But it included a partial carveout for CUSMA-compliant vehicles. Tariffs on auto parts could be imposed by May 3.

The latest tariff talk from Washington sparked fresh worries about Canada’s economy, which is already widely predicted to flatline or fall into a recession as a result of Trump’s effort to dismantle decades of trade integration between the two North American neighbours.

Oxford Economics trimmed its Canadian GDP forecast despite the partial break on tariffs given Canada on CUSMA-compliant exports. The global economic advisory firm reduced its GDP forecast by 0.4 points and expects 0.7 per cent growth in 2025, with a 0.2 per cent economic contraction in 2026 if Trump’s tariff wall stays in place.

Along with the direct impact of bilateral tariffs, Canada’s economy will be weakened indirectly by the effect on Canadian exports and investment from the weakness in global demand caused by the U.S.-initiated trade war with most of its commercial partners, Oxford Economics noted.