Canada will be imposing 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on $29.8bn of American imports as a response to the 25 per cent U.S. tariffs imposed on all Canadian steel and aluminum products that went into effect early Wednesday.
Finance minister and intergovernmental affairs Dominic LeBlanc announced that Canada is imposing, from March 13, 25% reciprocal tariffs on a list of steel products worth $12.6bn and aluminum products worth $3bn, as well as additional imported U.S. goods worth $14.2bn, for a total of $29.8bn.
The list of additional products affected by counter tariffs includes tools, computers and servers, display monitors, sport equipment, and cast-iron products.
These tariffs are in addition to Canada’s 25% counter tariffs on $30bn of imports from the U.S., in response to U.S. International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs put in place on March 4.
The Canadian government warned that unless U.S. IEEPA tariffs and other “unjustified U.S. tariff threats are addressed,” Canada will apply counter tariffs on additional imports from the U.S. on April 2 following the public comment period.
With regards to the imposition of tariffs on the steel and aluminum content in certain derivative products by the U.S., the government said it is currently assessing this aspect of the U.S. tariffs and may impose further counter tariffs in response.
The tariffs announced yesterday by the government will not apply to U.S. goods that are in transit to Canada on the day on which these countermeasures come into force.
Finance minister Dominic LeBlanc said: “With these tariffs, the U.S. administration is needlessly disrupting an incredibly successful trading partnership. It is a completely unwarranted and unjustified move that will raise costs for Americans and Canadians alike.
“While we actively work to remove these tariffs, our government will use every tool at its disposal to defend Canadian jobs and support our businesses and workers during these challenging times.”
