Canada on Tuesday struck back and announced retaliatory tariffs on 700 US goods worth $20 billion, ranging from 15 to 50 per cent after the trade war between the neighbouring countries escalated. The tariffs will be implemented from September 8 even as US tariffs already came into place on Saturday.
Canadian officials said on Tuesday that Ottawa’s tariffs will match US levels and will impact steel, dairy and electronics industries.
“This is an unprecedented challenge imposed on Canada. But Canada will meet the moment,” Canada’s Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said.
“I think what Canadians can see this morning is that we stand united. We stand united in our response,” he added.
Ottawa’s response comes after the Trump administration imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods over the weekend after trade talks between the nations collapsed.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday said that he walked away because of a ‘bad trade deal’ and claimed that the US proposed new terms that were “uneconomic” and “unfair” and said that they undermined the net benefits for Canada.
He accused Trump of launching a trade “war” and said, “You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked.”
“We cannot accept what they’ve offered, and we will not give what they’ve asked,” Carney said.
“We learned during the negotiations that the Americans want to destroy our major industries, including autos, steel and aluminium,” Carney said. “That was one of the main reasons we said no. It was a bad deal.”
US President Donald Trump on Monday had told Canadian leaders to either “fall in line” or face consequences that would be “far worse” than the tariffs he had imposed.
On Monday, Trump came back with further tariffs, warning that he would impose them on Canada’s auto industry beginning next year.
“Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years,” Trump wrote on social media, criticising what he called the country’s “ridiculously high tariffs” on American farmers.
