The United States’ temporary exemption from steel and aluminum tariffs that it extended to Canada and Mexico in March will end tonight, as scheduled, the U.S. announced May 31, and Canada has responded with a notice of intent to impose countermeasures.
As of 12 a.m. June 1, import duties of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum are set to be applied to all shipments entering the U.S, with that country citing “national security” as a reason. In response, Canada said it will impose “surtaxes or similar trade-restrictive countermeasures” on up to $16.6 billion of imports from the U.S. of steel, aluminum and other products.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the U.S.’s ending of the exemption totally unacceptable, saying Canada is the U.S.’s most steadfast ally, calling the tariffs “an affront to the long-standing security partnership between Canada and the United States, and in particular, to the thousands of Canadians who have fought and died alongside American comrades-in-arms.”
“The numbers are clear: the United States has a $2 billion US dollars surplus in steel trade with Canada – and Canada buys more American steel than any other country in the world, half of U.S. steel exports,” Trudeau said in a statement. “Canada is a secure supplier of aluminum and steel to the U.S. defence industry, putting aluminum in American planes and steel in American tanks.
“That Canada could be considered a national security threat to the United States is inconceivable.”
Workers on both sides of the border will be harmed, Trudeau said, disrupting supply chains.
The cost to Canada from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum is estimated to be more than $3 billion.
Imports from the European Union will also be included in the U.S.’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, and the EU is also considering retaliatory measures. The European Union said it will launch legal proceedings against the U.S. in the World Trade Organization (WTO) June 1. The European Commission estimates the tariffs will affect EU exports that were worth 6.4 billion euro in 2018.
In a statement, the European Commission said, “the EU will use the possibility under WTO rules to rebalance the situation by targeting a list of U.S. products with additional duties. The level of tariffs to be applied will reflect the damage caused by the new U.S. trade restrictions on EU products.”
The move comes a week before this year’s G7 summit begins June 8 in Charlevoix, Quebec.
@EmmaHampelBIV
