Canada unveils retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion of U.S. goods
Canada on Tuesday announced retaliatory tariffs against the United States, matching “dollar for dollar” the 50% duties that President Donald Trump imposed over the weekend after a breakdown in trade talks.
Ottawa’s new tariffs encompass more than 700 U.S. goods and are worth about $20 billion, mirroring the size of Trump’s latest import taxes on Canadian wine, cement, hockey sticks and more.
The counter tariffs range from 15% to 50% and target a wide array of Canadian imports from the U.S., including dairy, seafood, appliances, wood and paper products, and clothes.
Among the most significant are 50% tariffs on American steel and aluminum, doubling the current rate. The duties on metals and wood were chosen to respond to previously imposed U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum, lumber and other products.
The new tariffs are set to take effect Sept. 8. Canada also unveiled an additional $7.5 billion package to support businesses and workers being harmed by the U.S. tariffs.
“When the United States of America asked too much and offered too little, we made a choice. We chose Canada,” said Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne at a news conference Tuesday morning.
The new duties would have been averted if the two sides struck a trade deal before they took effect on Saturday. Trump had claimed earlier that week that a deal was all but complete — but Canada suspended negotiations on Friday evening, contending that the U.S. made unreasonable demands. The Trump administration has likewise accused Ottawa of blowing up the talks by seeking last-minute changes to the deal.
The collapse of the negotiations has opened a bitter new chapter in the top allies’ trade war, raising tensions that were already inflamed by Trump’s heavy use of tariffs and inflammatory comments toward Canada.
The new tit-for-tat tariffs could also exacerbate widespread concerns about high costs, as businesses warn they will cause major uncertainty and could make it prohibitively expensive for some sellers to trade across the border.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, in a speech following the failed trade talks, acknowledged that the decision to retaliate “will raise costs and reduce choice for Canadians.”
Carney, who became prime minister last year after previously leading the Bank of Canada, has expressed a desire to diversify his country’s economy in order to reduce dependence on the U.S., which he says has “changed” under Trump.
Trump has placed tariffs at the center of his agenda throughout his second term in the White House, though his use of the economic tool has faced some major legal setbacks and stoked heated pushback from other countries.
Trump lashed out at Canada on Tuesday morning, suggesting on Truth Social that the U.S. would halt business with Ontario, and repeatedly floating the prospect of renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”
In more Truth Social posts, Trump accused Canada of targeting U.S. farmers, and complained about America’s trade deficit with Canada — though that is primarily due to the U.S. making heavy purchases of Canadian crude oil.
“I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,” Trump wrote in one post.
Canada’s trade minister, Dominic LeBlanc, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” earlier Tuesday morning that Ottawa did not want to abandon trade talks with the U.S.
“Our preference was to find a deal that benefits both countries,” he said. “We still believe that’s possible. But in the meantime, we’re not waiting by the phone.”