Trade War: Canada Hits $13 Billion Worth of US Goods With New Tariffs
On Canada Day itself, the country has fired back in an ongoing trade war with the U.S. by slapping an estimated $13 Billion worth of goods from the latter with a set of new tariffs. Steel and aluminum from the U.S. will now enter Canada at a premium, with taxes of up to 25 percent.
As U.S. continued to impose steep import tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum products, Canada has responded in kind, as its government confirmed on Sunday, July 1. Around $12.5 billion worth of U.S. goods, equivalent to about 16.6 billion Canadian dollars, are now burdened with a set of new taxes, according to CNN.
U.S tariffs on Canadian steel products came into effect on June 1.
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A number of U.S. steel products, more than 40 in total, now cost Canadian importers an extra 25 percent on tariffs. Aluminum goods from its neighbor in the south will also cost an extra ten percent to bring into Canada.
Canada has also confirmed a levy of ten percent tax on toffee, maple syrup, coffee beans, strawberry jam, and over 80 other American items in a continuation of the ongoing agricultural trade war between the US and its neighbors Canada and Mexico, along with China and other countries.
The new taxes are not just a retaliation for the steep U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, these are also a way to focus more on these industries inside the country, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his message for Canada's 151st birthday.
"From Ontario steel to Quebec aluminum, from agriculture and the energy sector in the Prairies and the North, to forestry in British Columbia and fisheries in the Atlantic, Canadians get the job done — and build our communities along the way," he said in his address, as quoted by CBC Radio Canada.
