Canada has moved ahead with “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory tariffs on the United States after President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to impose a sweeping 50 percent duty.
Ottawa said Tuesday it would match the scale and reach of Trump’s latest tariff threat, imposing duties of up to 50 percent on more than $20 billion in U.S. goods and services.
The new Canadian tariffs, ranging from 15 percent to 50 percent, cover more than 700 American-made products.
The measures take aim at key U.S. exports, including aluminum, steel, dairy products, lumber and paper goods, as well as seafood and clothing.
“Canada’s counter tariffs will apply to products covering $27.6 billion in imports from the U.S. and will focus on sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics, that are most impacted by U.S. tariffs,” the Canadian Embassy in the U.S. said in a statement.
The latest round of Canada-U.S. tariffs closely mirrors the measures announced by Washington, with both countries targeting each other’s steel and lumber industries.
The trade escalation came shortly after Trump floated the idea of renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America,” a suggestion likely to inflame tensions with Canadian leaders and the public.
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to [be] doing much business with Ontario any longer,” the president wrote Tuesday morning on Truth Social.
On Tuesday, Canada enacted a retaliatory tariff on the US, matching ‘dollar for dollar’ the new rates that President Donald Trump placed on the US’s northern neighbor. Canadian Prime Minsiter Mark Carney, shown above, has stated that
Trump announced on Monday a new 50 percent tariff on Canadian cars and automotive parts that is set to take effect on January 1
The spat between the US and Canadian leaders has turned personal, with Trump escalating the war of words on Tuesday saying Lake Ontario should be renamed ‘Lake America’
Lake Ontario straddles the border, with New York state along its southern and eastern shores and the Canadian province of Ontario to the north. It is not controlled outright by either Canada or the US and has instead been jointly managed under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty for more than a century.
Trump could order US federal agencies to call it ‘Lake America,’ but Canada would not be required to recognize the new name.
The move is reminiscent of the president’s previous renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, which the US government now refers to as the Gulf of America.
The tariff spat has turned deeply personal after negotiations fell apart last week.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said that Trump can kiss his ‘a**,’ noting his backside has a lot of ‘real estate.’
Trump has warned that Canada needs to ‘fall in line’ or it will face ‘far worse’ consequences. He has recently said that the US northern neighbor is his least favorite country to deal with.
‘I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,’ Trump wrote on social media.
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs are set to go into effect on September 8.
Had the two countries reached a trade agreement last week before the Saturday deadline, the additional rate hikes likely could have been avoided altogether.
‘I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,’ Trump wrote on social media
The president posted last week that he would extend the negotiating period in hopes that a deal could be struck. But his extension proved fruitless, and neither side was willing to compromise to the other’s demands.
Minutes after his threat to rename the lake, Trump sent out another post on Truth Social: ‘I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing.’
‘This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. I love French Canadians!’
Carney previously claimed the US had made ‘threats’ and demands targeting French-language protections and Quebec culture during tariff negotiations.
‘President Trump ascended to the White House on a clear promise to the forgotten men and women of America that they would be forgotten no longer,’ White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement.
‘Countless American workers, farmers, and businesses have borne the brunt of America’s lopsided trade relations, including with Canada which has demanded total access to the American market without reciprocity.’
