Workers remove a coil from the production line for quality-control testing during steel production at the NLMK Indiana steel mill on March 15, 2018 in Portage, Indiana.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
Canada said Wednesday it will impose 25% tariffs on more than $20 billion worth of U.S. goods in retaliation for the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum duties that took effect overnight.
The new tariffs cover steel and aluminum, as well as other U.S. goods including computers, sports equipment and cast iron products, Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said at a press conference.
They will take effect Thursday, LeBlanc said.
The new Canadian duties are on top of the 25% counter-tariffs that Ottawa slapped on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods on March 4, in response to President Donald Trump’s imposition of broad-based tariffs on Canadian imports.
Those Canadian countermeasures remain in place, despite Trump issuing temporary exemptions for some of his tariffs on March 6 following a severe stock market sell off.
Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum applied to all imports of the metals, not just those from Canada. After they were enacted early Wednesday morning, the European Union swiftly announced it would slap its own tariffs on more than $28 billion worth of U.S. goods starting in April.
“This is much more than about our economy. It is about the future of our country,” said Melanie Joly, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, during Wednesday’s press conference.
“Canadians have had enough, and we are a strong country,” Joly said.
Trump is a devoted fan of tariffs who has touted them as key tools for negotiating with other countries, generating revenue and protecting and boosting domestic industries.
But most economists warn that tariffs — taxes on imports that are paid by the importers — threaten to upend supply chains and raise prices for consumers. And Trump’s rollout of his tariff plans has generated significant uncertainty on Wall Street, leading at least in part to a weekslong stock market downturn.
Trump has offered numerous reasons for his tariffs, adding to confusion about why the U.S. is stoking a trade war with many of its key trade partners, especially Canada and Mexico.
At the same time, Trump has ratcheted up his rhetorical attacks on Canada’s leaders, and repeatedly expressed a desire for Canada to become the 51st U.S. state, infuriating many Canadians.
“The only constant in this unjustified and unjustifiable trade war seems to be President Trump’s talks of annexing our country through economic coercion,” Joly said Wednesday.
Trump doubled down on his Canadian statehood idea Tuesday, while threatening to double to 50% U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada.
That threat came after Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would add a 25% surcharge to his province’s electricity exports to three U.S. states. The surcharge was itself a retaliation against Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
Trump backed down from his 50% threat later Wednesday, after Ford said he would pause the surcharge plan.
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