Canada is responding to increased US tariffs and Donald Trump’s threat of even higher levies by imposing tariffs of up to 50 percent on American goods. “Canada stands united, and we will fight as long as necessary,” Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told a press conference.
Starting September 8, Canada will apply punitive tariffs of between 15 and 50 percent on American goods. The measures, covering goods worth roughly SEK 200 billion, are designed to match the US tariffs that took effect on Saturday, some of them as high as 50 percent. “We respond dollar for dollar, tariff for tariff, to the US punitive tariffs,” Champagne said.
The government also announced support equivalent to more than SEK 51 billion for Canadian companies and workers affected by the US tariffs, an acknowledgment of the disruption the escalating trade dispute is expected to cause on both sides of the border.
Among the new measures is an increase from 25 to 50 percent on steel and aluminum. Tariffs at that level are also being imposed on clothing, furniture, cosmetics and toilet paper, according to the BBC, widening the range of consumer and industrial goods caught up in the standoff.
The retaliation follows a breakdown in negotiations. Talks between the two countries stalled on Friday after Washington made what Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called “unacceptable” offers, saying the United States “demanded too much and gave too little.”
“The attitude at the negotiating table was that Canada is subordinate to the United States, and that is not something we accept,” Carney said. According to AP, no new talks between the countries are currently planned, leaving the two economies bracing for a prolonged period of elevated tariffs on both sides.
