Tractor trailers cross the Peace Bridge at the Canada-United States border in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, on Aug. 20.
Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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Cole Burston/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on hundreds of U.S. goods on Tuesday as the two countries fell deeper into a trade fight.
Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the countermeasures will match U.S. tariffs “dollar for dollar, rate for rate,” with tariffs of 15%, 25% and 50% on a range of exports from the U.S., effective Sept. 8.
He said the countertariffs will focus on steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics, totaling nearly $20 billion worth of annual imports from the United States. (The Finance Ministry published the list of products here.)
“Canada’s countertariffs are designed primarily to provide protection for Canadian industry impacted by U.S. tariffs and allow them to compete against U.S. products in the Canadian market,” Champagne said. “It’s all about fairness. It’s all about level playing field. It’s all about supporting Canadian workers and Canadian businesses.”
The move comes after President Trump imposed 50% tariffs on some Canadian goods and threatened more after trade talks broke down on Friday. Experts estimate the duties will affect 5% of Canada’s exports to the United States.
“When the United States asked too much and offered too little, we chose to stand up for Canadians,” Champagne said, referring to the failed talks.
Leading up to Canada’s announcement, Trump took to social media to vent frustration with the country. He accused Canada of “Ripping Off” the U.S. for decades. He insulted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney by calling him “Governor Carney.” And he said the U.S. is considering changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” Trump has also repeatedly said Canada should become a U.S. state.
Carney suspended trade talks with the U.S. on Friday, saying in a statement that last-minute changes to the U.S. proposal were “unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”
The U.S. trade representative countered that the U.S. had offered Canada a better deal.
But at a news conference on Saturday, Carney likened the U.S. actions against Canada to a conflict. “You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked,” he said.
