There's no simple answer....there are a LOT of variables depending which country and which goods. Are the good politically sensitive? Are they something that can be produced at home easily, or something that NEEDS to be imported? Is it something that some 3rd world country is going to flood your market with because they charge $.25 an hour labour? Safe to say no country (and definitely not the US) has low tariffs just to be nice guys....economists toil 24/7 over what should be traded freely vs what should be restricted. What about the US economy would lead you to believe you are at a disadvantage historically? As mentioned earlier....you don't get to be the world's largest economy, with the most consumer buying power, by getting screwed.
On tariffs between Canada and US ...other than certain sticking points (such as softwood lumber), most of the trade is tariff/duty free ala NAFTA (and the Canada/US specific free trade agreement that preceded NAFTA). Picking on the softwood lumber say....the Canadian forest industry is traditionally able to produce lumber cheaper than the US, and depending where the exchange rate is at the CDN lumber could have a good price advantage in the US market. So every so often the US has a freak out and doesn't like that....sure, fine. The crux is....the US can't produce all of its own lumber, so it will HAVE to import some regardless. And consumers want the best price...so you're really only affecting them by either forcing a more expensive product on them and/or limiting supply (same result +/-). So an easy solution doesn't really exist...the US accused the Canadian gov of subsidizing the lumber industry for years, until it was concluded that wasn't' the case...Canadians simply produce lumber more efficiently, and the stumpage fees are lower due to the way the forests are owned/managed. So it's a true competitive advantage, and a true capitalist *should* be ok with it....but the US always likes some protectionism with its capitalism and therein lies the problem.
That's just one example....obviously there are many examples in the opposite direction, as it's a safe bet the US produces many items cheaper than Canada is able to....greater economies of scale, lower taxes, less harsh climate, more efficient shipping/transportation, yada yada. The biggest difference in the current dispute is the Trump sensationalism....it's not like the issues are new.
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