U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that their two countries had agreed to a 30-day pause on reciprocal tariffs as a trade war loomed.
“Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together,” Trudeau posted Monday afternoon on X, saying that his government would name a fentanyl czar, list Mexican cartels as terrorist groups and launch a “Canada- U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering.”
The Department of Finance Canada announced Sunday it will impose 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods imported from the United States, including two dental items: dentifrices and dental yarn effective Feb. 4.
“The latest Canadian response did not include many products used in dental practices, except for dental floss and toothpaste,” the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) told Oral Health Group.
The tariffs are a tit-for-tat move after Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada on Saturday. However, energy resources from Canada were to face a lower 10 per cent tariff.
Although the Canadian government was not directly targeting a wide range of dental products, the CDA warned that indirect effects of the tariffs—such as inflation, supply chain disruptions, and potential manufacturing sector downsizing—could still drive up costs.
“Tariffs on U.S. imports will lead to increased costs for various dental products imported from the U.S., which represented approximately 41 per cent of Canada’s dental-related imports in 2023,” the CDA said. “Overall, price increases will likely be passed along to Canadian dentists and, potentially, their patients.”

Loonie drops as tariffs take effect
The Canadian dollar fell below 68 cents U.S. for the first time in more than two decades on Monday before rebounding to approximately $1.45 per U.S. dollar. The volatility followed news that Trump granted Mexico a one-month delay on the tariffs after a phone call with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. During the call, Sheinbaum agreed to deploy 10,000 National Guard troops to combat drug trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump justified the tariffs as necessary to “protect” Americans from “the major threat of illegal aliens and deadly drugs,” including fentanyl. However, Canada accounts for just 0.2 per cent of fentanyl seizures at the U.S. border.

Dentists to face rising costs
Gurtej Varn, a B.C.-based wealth advisor at White Coat Financial Inc., which serves dentists exclusively, told Oral Health Group that shipping and supply chain disruptions would make it difficult for dental professionals to find affordable alternatives if the tariff were to take effect.
“Dentists are going to be paying more for products, especially when factoring in shipment costs,” Varn said. “It will be hard to find an immediate replacement, and both Canadians and Americans will have to keep up with higher prices. Initially, people in the U.S. will probably still buy from me. Take lumber, for example—they can’t just grow trees and produce lumber overnight. It takes years for trees to mature.”
The U.S. exported US$551 million in dental products globally in 2022, with Canada being the largest importer, accounting for US$206 million of those exports, according to data from the MIT Media Lab’s Observatory of Economic Complexity. In the same year, the U.S. imported US$411 million worth of dental products, making it the world’s largest importer in the category. The majority of U.S. dental product imports came from Mexico (US$216 million), followed by Ireland (US$61.3 million), Canada (US$37.9 million), China (US$22.7 million), and India (US$15.7 million).
Colgate-Palmolive, which has expanded its U.S. manufacturing by 40 per cent in the past five years, recently signaled that it is bracing for potential price hikes on toothpaste due to tariffs.
“The precise impact will depend on factors such as the specific products affected, supply chain adjustments, and whether alternative import sources are available.”
CDA
Is Canada collateral damage?
Before Trump’s decision to pause the tariffs after a phone call from Trudeau, Varn speculated that Trump could be using Canada to send a message to China, a country the U.S. president has previously targeted with protectionist policies.
“It’s possible that Canada is merely collateral damage in this situation,” he said. “I really believe the U.S. is primarily targeting China. They might be signaling, ‘Hey, we imposed tariffs on our biggest trade partner—what do you think we’ll do with you?’ Trump could be using Canada as a bargaining chip to secure a deal with China, only to later return and say, ‘I got who I really wanted—now let’s negotiate something between us.’”
CDA monitoring the situation
The CDA will continue tracking how tariffs impact dental supplies beyond toothpaste and floss.
“As the situation evolves, we are monitoring whether affected products could include dental drill engines, instruments and appliances, oral hygiene preparations, dental cements, and dental fittings, which are essential to dental practices,” the CDA said. “The precise impact will depend on factors such as the specific products affected, supply chain adjustments, and whether alternative import sources are available.”