Canada Announces Retaliatory US Tariffs

Starting 8 September, Canada will impose retaliatory tariffs on imports from the US in response to new 50% US tariffs that took effect at midnight on Saturday. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement.

According to him, Ottawa will respond to Washington on a "dollar-for-dollar" basis. Canadian tariffs will apply to, among other things, steel, dairy products, household appliances, agricultural machinery, paper products and electronics.

The United States imposed the new tariffs after the two countries failed to reach a trade agreement on Friday, despite several days of intense negotiations. The US measures affect Canadian exports worth approximately $20bn, including wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing equipment and hockey gear.

The new tariffs also apply to Canadian goods that meet the conditions of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). That agreement had protected most Canadian exports to the US from US tariffs over the past 18 months.

"We cannot accept what they have offered, and we will not give what they have asked", Carney said.

(Reuters, lud)