The trade war between the United States and Canada continues to escalate. According to the office of the Canadian Minister of Finance, following the cancellation of retaliatory tariffs on American seafood, the federal government has increased tariffs by 50% on a range of other American goods to maintain the overall retaliatory measures against about $27.6 billion Canadian dollars worth of American products.
The Finance Minister, François-Philippe Champagne’s press secretary, John Fragos, stated in a release to CTV News, “The decision was made to strengthen Canada’s industrial structure and the strength of tariff response, and to better counteract the U.S. tariff measures.”
The newly added American products to the list subject to retaliatory tariffs include:
– Charcoal;
– Printed matter, including printed pictures or photographs;
– Gypsum products or products primarily made of gypsum, including boards, sheets, and tiles;
– Materials used for transporting or packaging goods, including bottles, narrow-necked bottles, cans, and containers;
– And copper wire.
Champagne mentioned that the federal government has been in discussions with relevant stakeholders and provincial governments regarding options for retaliatory tariffs. He also told CTV News that Canada decided to remove seafood products from the retaliatory tariff list, in part to avoid giving the impression of further escalating trade conflicts, as the U.S. currently does not impose tariffs on seafood products imported from Canada.
On August 25, the Canadian government announced that it would levy tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on American products worth $27.6 billion Canadian dollars in response to the U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods. The new measures were originally intended to cover various sectors such as steel, dairy, household appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper products, and electronics, and will officially come into effect on September 8.
However, the Canadian government later made adjustments to the list, removing American fish and seafood products from the scope of retaliatory tariffs.
The Canadian government stated that the new retaliatory tariffs would take effect at 12:01 am on September 8, but American goods already in transit to Canada on the day the measures take effect would not be affected by the new tariffs.
Prime Minister Kan also announced new support measures amounting to $7.5 billion to assist Canadian businesses and workers impacted by the U.S. tariffs. These measures build upon the nearly $25 billion in support that the government had previously provided.
U.S. Trade Representative, Jamieson Greer, stated in an interview with CBC on August 26 that negotiations with Canadian Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, Dominic LeBlanc, were currently at a standstill. “I can say that there is currently no clear channel of communication between the two sides,” Greer said. “I have a good relationship with Minister LeBlanc, but it seems that Canada is discussing the next steps.”
Greer also suggested that the U.S. should consider banning some Canadian products, stating, “Canada has already banned the sale of American wine and spirits. We have not banned any Canadian products. They limit the types of cars we can export to them and restrict certain goods and services from participating in provincial procurement.”
He added, “We’ve never done a ban like this before, which is already quite extreme. But maybe we need to do this.” His office later re-posted these remarks on the X platform.