Canada is rolling out a slate of retaliatory trade moves against the U.S. in response to Donald Trump’s latest tariffs after negotiations between the neighboring nations broke down in an escalating trade war.
“Canada must respond,” Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Tuesday.
Canada, which imports roughly $272 billion in U.S. goods every year, will double its existing counter-tariffs on American steel and aluminum products to 50 percent, while new tariffs of 15, 25 and 50 percent will be applied to more than $20 billion worth of about 700 U.S. goods, including clothing, furniture, video game consoles and other electronics, among other goods.
The measures are “proportionate, targeted and strategic,” designed to “match dollar for dollar, rate for rate” against Trump’s tariff agenda, Champagne said. The new levies are effective September 8.
Canada’s new levies are “designed primarily to provide protection for Canadian industry impacted by American tariffs” and to “level the playing field” in the face of Trump’s trade war, he said. Officials have stressed that the retaliatory measures are intended to protect workers and industry, not collect revenue; Canada will cushion the economic blow from the latest battle in the trade war with a $5.4 billion package to boost support for impacted workers and businesses.
The Trump administration’s 50 percent tariffs on many Canadian products went into effect Saturday after the president laid out last-minute “unfair” and “uneconomic” terms last week, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“We did not choose this conflict, but when our economic integration is used as a weapon rather than the foundation for a win-win partnership, we need to stand up,” Champagne said Tuesday.
Goods subject to the 50 percent counter tariffs include steel and aluminum products that were previously only subject to a 25 percent tax, while furniture and clothing will also face 50 percent levies.
Dairy, appliances, cheese and fish will face 25 percent duties, and a rate of 15 percent will apply to other products including rubber molds and machinery parts, according to Canadian officials.
Canada will retain a previous retaliatory 25 percent tariff on American-made cars.
Minister of Industry of Canada Mélanie Joly said some of the targeted tariffs were designed to exert “political pressure,” particularly in states that have supported the president, coming in the critical weeks before midterm elections with the balance of power in Congress — and the fate of Trump’s remaining years in office — at stake.
She did not list the states but said those targeted goods include appliances and “food products.”
“We’re also targeting products that will target states in the U.S.,” she told reporters Tuesday. “And so we’re being wise and strategic to put political pressure, and that’s why we think it’s the right thing to do right now.”
Trump, meanwhile, has commanded Canadian leaders to “fall in line” or face consequences “far WORSE” than already-imposed tariffs, including threatening new 50 percent tariffs on Canadian vehicles, auto parts and steel.
A 50 percent tariff on Canadian vehicle imports would likely debilitate Canadian manufacturers, which export roughly 90 percent of what they build. Trump has also suggested that he could extend those levies to Canadian auto parts.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford unleashed his own vitriol, telling Trump to “kiss my as**.”
“We’re going to go at him full steam,” he said Monday.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Ford said Ronald Reagan himself would be “throwing up” on Trump and “spinning around in his grave” if the former president “knew what was going on.”
Trump responded in a social media post by attacking Ford personally, calling him “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford.”
“If you think an insult from him hurts me? Well, bring it on, buddy, I’m ready,” Ford replied.
On Tuesday morning, hours before Canadian officials unveiled new tariffs, Trump threatened to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”
“We’ll always call it Lake Ontario. Period. We’re proud of our Great Lakes,” Joly said during Tuesday’s press conference.
“While all these shenanigans are happening, we’ll just be smart, we’ll be strategic, and we’ll fight back,” she said.
