Canada Retaliates, Slaps $20 Billion In Tariffs On 700 US Goods

Days after the US hit Canada with a 50% tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods amid a collapse in trade talks – and a Monday threat to include cars, trucks, auto parts and steel, Canada hit back on Tuesday – announcing retaliatory tariffs as high as 50% on $20 billion worth of American products. 

Canada will begin collecting tariffs of 50, 25, and 15 percent on roughly 700 products beginning on Sept. 8. Most notably is the doubling of tariffs on American steel and aluminum to 50%. In addition to tit-for-tat tariffs on things like tools, clothing and forestry products, Canada is also targeting consumer products like home appliances. 

The retaliation was expected following warnings by Prime Minister Mark Carney – a former central banker, who said that Canada would match US tariffs “dollar for dollar,” though he admitted that the move “will raise costs and reduce choice for Canadians,” NYT reports.

One of the major sources of tension in the trade negotiations was the United States’ 25 percent tariff on automobiles, a major export for Canada, introduced about 18 months ago. On Tuesday Canada said it would keep its retaliatory tariff on American-made cars at 25 percent and maintain a system that allows companies that build cars in Canada to continue to import them from the U.S. tariff-free, within limits. Canadians buy more cars from the United States that they ship there. -NYT

Canada imports around $272 billion in US goods annually – while Carney’s government says it will spend far more on keeping Canadian exporters solvent than it will bring in from the tariff, so ouch. 

Or as the NYT frames it; “because Canada’s economy is about one-twelfth the size of the U.S. economy, its retaliatory tariffs will have the effect of a pea shooter in a gun battle.”