Canada Targets U.S. Metals, Fish, Foods, Motorcycles in Retaliatory Tariff Package
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
OTTAWA— Canada plans to impose tariffs of up to 50% on roughly 700 American products in retaliation for new U.S. levies, Canadian officials said Tuesday, escalating a trade war between the neighboring countries.
Officials said that effective Sept. 8, or the day after Labor Day, Canada plans to place tariffs ranging between 15% and 50% on about $20 billion of goods, or roughly 7% of total U.S. imports. Among the products targeted by Canada are U.S. steel, aluminum, motorcycles, washers and dryers, chain saws, processed cheese, clams and frozen octopus.
U.S. steel and aluminum were already subject to a 25% tariff, but that will now double to 50%, officials said.
Canadian officials said their set of retaliatory duties are designed to protect domestic market share for firms directly impacted by U.S. tariffs . Industry Minister Melanie Joly said the tariffs were also crafted to exert maximum political pressure in key races in the U.S. midterm elections in November. “We are being wise and strategic,” said Joly at a press conference.
Trade analysts pointed to the nearly 200 seafood items subject to duties as a sign of that political pressure in Maine, where Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, faces re-election in November.
Canadian officials also unveiled measures such as loans and income supplements for affected firms and workers valued at 7.5 billion Canadian dollars, equivalent to US$5.4 billion.
Canada’s pending duties are in response to the Trump administration’s new 50% tariff on about $20 billion of Canadian imports, which took effect on Saturday after weeks of trade talks broke down at the 11th hour despite optimism the two sides were inching toward a deal.
Both the U.S. and Canada argue their counterpart demanded last-minute changes to the deal that were deemed unacceptable. The U.S. imposed this new tariff, it said, because of alleged Canadian mistreatment of U.S. automobiles, wines and spirits, and dairy products.
Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at global-payments firm Corpay, said the Canadian retaliation might backfire. “An intensified trade war will hurt the country more than the U.S.,” Schamotta said. “Countertariffs will not help. In Canada, just as in the U.S., they are effectively taxes on domestic consumption. They raise the cost of living while doing little to shift trade balances or improve overall economic welfare.”
Barry Appleton, an international trade lawyer and a professor at New York Law School, said the affected U.S. products and differing tariff rates—either 15%, 25% or 50%—indicate a more precise approach than a broad dollar-for-dollar move. The decision to target household items like cheese, cosmetics and toilet paper does mean “Canadian consumers will feel this one directly, not just Canadian manufacturers,” he added.
Joly said that amid the tariff war, Canadians should purchase domestically-made products from grocery stores and other retail outlets. “That’s what you can do, and that’s how we can launch these movements of resistance given what is happening to us,” she said.
U.S. and Canadian officials have traded barbs in the days following the breakdown of trade talks. The latest from President Trump emerged early Tuesday, when he threatened to rename Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes, to Lake America. “I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said this week it became evident during negotiations that Trump was intent on destroying Canada’s auto sector, and steel and aluminum industries. He said Canada could restart talks with Washington, but only on the condition that the U.S. comes “with the right attitude toward our industries.”
He added, “An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States, the Canadian industry is going to be disadvantaged relative to American industry…That’s not something we’re going to accept.”
Tags
Who is online
93 visitors
“I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Need a hint as to why Donald? Listen to Canada's national anthem.
hang tough canada, that pile of shit in DC is dried up and we're just waiting for a big gust of wind in november to blow it away ...
Say what? I spent over a week in Canada and have nothing but good things to say about the hospitality and the niceness of Canadians
And ICYMI:
Great song, BTW!
I only like unofficial national anthems, Waltzing Matilda being my favorite.
Yeah...I like that one, too. We used to sing that in grade school music class
I have boycotted Canadian seafood since I found out they club seal babies.
maybe we can send them some magas to club later ... /s
Maybe some of the people that said they would leave the country if Trump became president yet never did.
criminal maga deportations will become a reality sooner ...
I'm waiting for Canada, and some other countries to close their borders and bar US business and tourism in protest.
USA: the country where you abandon all of your friends for the diseased embraces of your enemies.