Canada plans to retaliate against Washington’s decision to reimpose a 10% aluminum tariff on Canadian exports with $3.6 billion in countermeasures, deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland said this morning.
Freeland said at a news conference Friday morning that Ottawa will be consulting with Canadian industry leaders over the next month to compile a list of American products that would face a reciprocal 10% tariff upon entry.
The goal, Freeland said, is to have “the strongest possible impact on the United States.”
“Our trade officials have worked on this list, very, very carefully,” she said at the news conference. “And we do hope that when Americans look at this list, they will understand why having a tariff dispute is a really bad idea. We will not back down.”
Canadians will have until Sept. 6 to provide feedback to Ottawa on the composition of the final tariff list, but Finance Canada has already rolled out a set of goods facing possible tariff retaliation.
Such goods include pigments used in paints, doors/windows parts for homes, auto parts, beverage cans, wires, washing machines, refrigerators, bicycles, golf clubs and furniture. A final list, once created, will see counter-tariffs begin by Sept. 16.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the new tariffs on Thursday during a campaign speech in Ohio, claiming Canadian aluminum has flooded into the American market since Canada was given an exemption on the previous tariffs as part of the USMCA North American free-trade talks.
In a written statement, Finance Canada said the retaliation will be dollar-for-dollar to the tariffs being imposed on Canadian aluminum exports to the United States.
“In response to these measures and in accordance with the May 2019 Joint Statement by Canada and the United States on Section 232 Duties on Steel and Aluminum, Canada intends to impose surtaxes against imports of aluminum and aluminum-containing products from the U.S., representing a proportionate amount of Canadian aluminum products affected by the U.S. tariffs,” the Finance Canada statement said.
Only goods originating from the United States is eligible for new tariffs, and Finance Canada said it is now accepting comments and general inquiries at [email protected] on the entire topic.
When U.S. first announced Section 232 tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel in 2018, Canada took a similar measure in countering with retaliatory tariffs. In light of the latest round of tariffs, officials such as Ontario premier Doug Ford have also started encouraging Canadian consumers to purchase domestically-made products to mitigate the effects of U.S. tariffs.
