OTTAWA, Aug 26 \u2014 Canada yesterday announced counter-tariffs on US goods ranging between 15 and 50 per cent, intensifying the trade war between the historically close allies.<\/p>\n
Ottawa\u2019s retaliation will take effect September 8, a timeframe earlier outlined by Prime Minister Mark Carney after US President Donald Trump\u2019s 50-per cent duties came into place Saturday.<\/p>\n
The retaliatory tariffs of 15 per cent, 25 per cent or 50 per cent match US levels, said Canada\u2019s Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. They impact industries including steel, dairy and electronics.<\/p>\n
The list includes frozen and fresh fish, consumer goods like dishwashers and washing machines, as well as industrial products including railway construction materials.<\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s government also announced a US$5.4 billion (RM21.8 billion) aid package for firms and workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an unprecedented challenge imposed on Canada. But Canada will meet the moment,\u201d Champagne added. \u201cI think what Canadians can see this morning is that we stand united.\u201d<\/p>\n
Industry Minister Melanie Joly echoed Champagne\u2019s call for Canadians to support local businesses, vowing to work with new allies and trading partners.<\/p>\n
She also pledged to \u201cfight back\u201d if Trump raised US tariffs on Canadian autos to 50 per cent.<\/p>\n
Tit-for-tat?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s latest tariffs hit about US$20 billion in Canadian goods \u2014 or 5.5 per cent of its exports to the United States \u2014 after trade negotiations collapsed at the eleventh hour.<\/p>\n
Under Canada\u2019s planned response, US steel and aluminum products previously subject to a 25-per cent duty will soon face 50-per cent tariffs.<\/p>\n
Goods facing 25-per cent tariffs include appliances, dairy products like cheese, as well as certain steel and aluminum derivative products.<\/p>\n
A small category will see a 15-per cent duty, including electric equipment and tools.<\/p>\n
These form about 7.3 per cent of Canada\u2019s imports from the United States at 2024 levels.<\/p>\n
But analysts warn of tit-for-tat escalation.<\/p>\n
Already on Monday, Trump pledged to double tariffs on Canadian autos starting 2027, up to 50 per cent from the current 25 per cent for non-US content.<\/p>\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford criticized Trump\u2019s threat, saying he could \u201ckiss my ass\u201d and threatening an electricity export surcharge.<\/p>\n
Trump lashed out at Ford and also referred to Carney as a \u201cgovernor,\u201d re-upping his inflammatory push for Canada to become the 51st US state.<\/p>\n
Highlighting the animosity, Trump said yesterday he was considering renaming Lake Ontario as \u201cLake America.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fresh US tariffs do not exempt products under the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. They raise the US effective tariff rate on Canadian exports to 6.9 per cent from 5.1 per cent, Oxford Economics estimates.<\/p>\n
Tariffs on plastics, electrical machinery, and wood and paper products contribute most to the increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cManufacturers in Quebec, New Brunswick, and Ontario will be affected the most,\u201d Oxford Economics said.<\/p>\n
Threats to culture\u00a0<\/p>\n
The exchanges drew some concern in the United States. Ethan Johnson, 25, who runs a start-up, told AFP: \u201cThe economics and the math behind it do not make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
But 29-year-old electrician Lucas Feser trusts the Trump administration \u201cto set up a harder, better deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carney previously said US negotiators sought restrictions on Canadian trade deals with other countries at the last minute.<\/p>\n
US officials made unacceptable \u201cthreats\u201d to the French language and \u201cQuebec culture\u201d too, he added, referring to eastern Canada\u2019s French-speaking province.<\/p>\n
Trump pushed back yesterday, saying on Truth Social that he would \u201cnever interfere with Canadians speaking French.\u201d He accused Carney of lying for political support.<\/p>\n
The United States is Canada\u2019s biggest trading partner. Canadian exports to its neighbor represent 70 per cent of its overall total.<\/p>\n
Canada is the second-biggest US trading partner in goods this year behind Mexico.<\/p>\n
Polling released Sunday by the Angus Reid Institute showed Canadians broadly support Carney\u2019s move to walk away from talks, but some fear economic repercussions.<\/p>\n
The White House had alleged \u201cdiscriminatory treatment\u201d by Canada against US alcohol, automobile and dairy products in rolling out new tariffs. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OTTAWA, Aug 26 \u2014 Canada yesterday announced counter-tariffs on US goods ranging between 15 and 50 per cent,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[57899,10448,111,43976,57462,57900],"class_list":["post-183539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mark-carney","tag-canada-counter-tariffs","tag-francois-philippe-champagne","tag-mark-carney","tag-ontario-premier-doug-ford","tag-quebec-culture","tag-usmca-agreement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}