Justin Trudeau retaliates with tariffs against US after Trump’s ‘unjustified’ 25% tax
Canada has responded to Donald Trump’s tariffs with a set of taxes of their own, accusing the US President of “disrupting a successful trading relationship.”
Trump’s new 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday.
In response, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government would respond with immediate 25 per cent tariffs on C$30 billion (£16.3 billion) worth of US imports and another C$125 billion (£68.12 billion) if Trump’s tariffs were still in place in 21 days.
Trudeau said: “Tariffs will disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship”, adding that they would violate the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement signed by Trump himself during his first term as President.
The tariff war comes as Trump declared that Mexico, Canada and China had failed to do enough to stem the flow of the deadly fentanyl opioid and its precursor chemicals into the US.
Trudeau previously told reporters that Canada would target American beer, wine, bourbon, home appliances and Florida orange juice.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told NBC News that he was ready to cut off shipments of nickel and transmission of electricity from his province to the US in retaliation.
Meanwhile, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is expected to announce her response during a morning news conference in Mexico City on Tuesday, the country’s economy ministry said.
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Canadian Chamber of Commerce CEO Candace Laing said in a statement: “Today’s reckless decision by the US administration is forcing Canada and the US toward recessions, job losses and economic disaster.”
She claimed the tariffs imposed by Trump will fail to usher in a “golden age” coveted by the US President but instead raise costs for consumers and producers and disrupt supply chains, adding: “Tariffs are a tax on the American people.”
The extra 10 per cent duty on Chinese goods adds to a 10 per cent tariff imposed by Trump on February 4 to punish Beijing over the US fentanyl overdose crisis.
The cumulative 20 per cent duty also comes on top of tariffs of up to 25 per cent imposed by Trump during his first term on some $370 billion worth of US imports.
On Saturday, Trump opened a national security investigation into imports of lumber and wood products that could result in steep tariffs. Canada, already facing 14.5 per cent US tariffs on softwood lumber, would be hit particularly hard.
President Trump has maintained a blistering pace of tariff actions he returned to office, including fully restored 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports that take effect March 12, rescinding prior exemptions.
The Republican’s “America First” agenda, aimed at redrawing trade relationships in favour of the US, is expected to be a centrepiece of his Tuesday night address to a joint session of Congress.