Canada will “adjust” its 25 per cent counter-tariffs on US steel and aluminium in response to a doubling of US levies if a bilateral trade deal is not reached within 30 days, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday.
“Canada will adjust its existing counter-tariffs on US steel and aluminium products on the 21st of July, at the end of that 30-day period,” he said.
Carney also announced a raft of measures to support the Canadian steel and aluminium sectors facing 50 per cent US tariffs, including procurement rules that favour domestic suppliers and anti-dumping measures.
Canada is the largest supplier of foreign steel and aluminium to the United States, and Carney earlier this month had denounced the doubling of US tariffs on Canadian imports of steel and aluminium, calling them “unjustified” and “illegal”.
At the same time, Canada and the United States launched “intensive discussions” to rewrite Canada-US trade relations.
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China vows to take ‘all necessary measures’ after imposition of latest US tariffs
China vows to take ‘all necessary measures’ after imposition of latest US tariffs
G7 leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday pushed US President Donald Trump to back away from his punishing trade war.