Canada has announced it will impose tariffs on a wide range of key American industries including cosmetics, dairy, wood products and outdoor equipment in the coming weeks, as it retaliates roughly “dollar for dollar” against levies imposed by the US.
On Tuesday, Canada’s finance and industry ministers announced the government’s “focused response” to what it sees as unfair tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on Canadian products, which took effect on Saturday after trade talks collapsed late on Friday.
The White House claimed it was using section ۳۳۸ of the Tariff Act of ۱۹۳۰ to protest against “discriminatory” trade policies by Canada, including the provincial ban on US alcohol – a ban that was only implemented in protest against tariffs imposed on Canadian goods last year.
The prime minister, Mark Carney, had previously pledged a “dollar-for-dollar” response from his government after roughly ۵% of exports to the US were singled out by the White House.
The retaliatory Canadian measures will cover C$۲۷.۶bn (£۱۴.۶bn) in imports and are meant to target key industries including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper.
The list from Ottawa has more than ۷۰۰ items, with most of the tariffs set at ۲۵% or ۵۰%. A small group of items, including air conditioning units and tool parts, will face a lower ۱۵% tariff. The levies will be effective starting ۸ September and only apply to goods originating from the US.
In announcing the retaliatory measures, the finance minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said the country was united in its fight against the US, telling attenders that Canada remained “masters of our own home”.
The industry minister, Mélanie Joly, called on businesses and consumers to buy Canadian goods as part of a broader “resistance” movement in the trade war.
“You have power,” she said.
The government also announced more than C$۷bn in support for businesses affected by the latest tariffs, adding to more than C$۲۰bn in support announced over the past ۱۸ months.
Canada’s decision to retaliate means both countries have doubled down on a trade war that could cost billions.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said he was giving “serious consideration” to changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” – reminiscent of his decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Others pointed out that Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, was named after the lake, not the other way around.
Trump’s frustration with Ontario in particular stems from his feud with the province’s premier, Doug Ford, who called the president a “loser” and the “king of bankruptcies” and told the US president to “kiss my ass”. He also threatened to cut electricity and rare earth metal exports to the US.
Trump called Ford a “flunky” of “Governor Carney” warned “these clowns to ‘fall in line’ or, the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!”
Trump later alluded to revelations that his trade negotiators had looked to weaken French language rules, saying he would “never interfere” with Canadians speaking French, calling it a “lie … made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support”.
Trump later added: “I love French Canadians!”
