WASHINGTON — Public support for President Donald Trump’s trade offensive against Canada appears weak in the United States and has helped rally Canadians behind Prime Minister Mark Carney, according to a new cross-border poll conducted this month. Only about one-quarter of U.S. respondents said Trump was right to impose new tariffs on Canadian goods, while 71% of Canadian respondents said Carney was right to answer with matching duties, the survey found. In Canada, 57% supported maintaining reciprocal tariffs rather than making concessions to end the dispute. The Public First poll surveyed 2,064 U.S. adults and 2,119 Canadian adults online from Sept. 13 through Sept. 15. Its margin of error was plus or minus 2.2 percentage points for the U.S. results and 2.1 points for the Canadian results, with larger margins for smaller subgroups. The findings come as the trade conflict threatens to raise costs for consumers and businesses on both sides of the border, while Republicans approach the November congressional elections. Half of U.S. adults said the tariffs were not worth imposing if they result in higher prices, including more than one-third of respondents who voted for Trump in 2024. “Voters simply did not connect tariffs to higher prices for many, many months,” Republican pollster Frank Luntz said. “But that has begun to change — and the consequences are serious and significant.” Trump imposed a 50% tariff on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods after trade talks broke down in August. Canada responded with dollar-for-dollar tariffs on Sept. 8. The United States then announced an outright ban on some Canadian imports, including motorcycles and whiskey, scheduled to take effect Sept. 29. The dispute is already becoming a political liability for Republicans in states with close economic ties to Canada. Democratic candidates have criticized the tariffs as a driver of higher prices, while some Republicans have sought distance from the president’s policy. Maine Sen. Susan Collins has repeatedly criticized Trump’s trade approach, and former New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu has also opposed the tariffs. In Texas, Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico has made ending the tariffs one of his top campaign priorities. Trump’s most committed supporters are not fully united on the timing or consequences of the policy. Among self-identified MAGA voters, 38% said Trump was right to raise tariffs even if doing so could cost Republicans congressional seats in states such as Michigan and Maine. Another 40% said he was right in principle but should have waited until after the midterm elections. The White House defended the president’s strategy, saying Trump was elected on a promise to put American workers, farmers and businesses first. Spokesperson Kush Desai said Canada had been offered favorable trade terms but rejected them, and said Trump would continue pursuing tariffs alongside tax cuts and deregulation. In Canada, support for Carney’s government has remained broad despite the country’s exposure to economic fallout. About two-thirds of Canada’s exports go to the United States, and 84% of Canadians surveyed said international trade was important or essential to the national economy. Nearly half identified the United States as one of Canada’s most important economic and trade relationships. Still, Canadians were more likely to view the relationship as tilted toward the United States: 38% said it was unfairly favorable to the U.S., compared with 18% who said it favored Canada. Nearly half said Carney should make no concessions to Trump to resolve the conflict. That willingness to absorb economic pain was especially strong among Liberal Party voters, 74% of whom said higher prices would be worth tolerating if Carney continued standing up to Trump. Former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently acknowledged that the confrontation would carry “significant costs,” but said Canadians were capable of bearing them. The results suggest that the dispute is producing an unusual political alignment: concern about prices in the United States and unusually strong cross-party backing for the government in Canada. Whether that sentiment lasts may depend on how quickly tariffs affect household budgets, manufacturers and cross-border trade before the elections.