Canada is responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated trade war escalations with counter-tariffs against more than 700 American goods amounting to $27.6 billion and rolling out supports for workers affected by the trade war, the federal government said on Tuesday.
The value of American goods being tariffed is roughly equal to the value of Canadian goods that fall under the scope of Trump’s sweeping 50 per cent tariffs on Canada.
This was done to ensure that “Canada will match the quantum of U.S. Section 338 tariffs dollar-for-dollar,” senior government officials said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney met with opposition leaders on Tuesday to discuss “the government’s response to the unjustified U.S. tariffs, including the new measures to support Canadian workers, families, and businesses,” his office said.
The Canadian countermeasures will go into effect after the Labour Day long weekend, on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
“Our dollar-for-dollar, rate for rate counter-tariffs as well as a multi-billion dollar support package will protect workers, farmers, families, and businesses,” Finance Minister Francois-Phillipe Champagne said.
The “vast majority” of the products targeted in the counter-tariffs would have “a substitution possible in a Canadian product,” Champagne said.
Industry Minister Melanie Joly urged people to buy Canadian products.
“When you choose a Canadian product, you’re not only putting pressure on the U.S., right now you’re protecting jobs,” she said.
Joly said she has been in touch with executives at Ford, Honda and Toyota to discuss the impact of Trump’s threat to double auto tariffs on Canada next year.
“The threat to the auto industry is real,” Joly said.
“While this is all happening, we’ll be smart and we’ll be strategic and will fight for every of these jobs.”
Provincial boycotts of U.S. liquor had been putting “political pressure” on the Trump administration, she added.
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will focus on sectors that are most targeted by U.S. tariffs, such as steel, dairy, furniture, machine equipment, and pulp and paper.
The Canadian tariffs will be set at three different rates – 15 per cent, 25 per cent and 50 per cent – to match Trump’s own tariffs on Canadian goods.
