Canada will slap a 25 per cent tariff on nearly C$30 billion worth of U.S. imports as of March 13 in response to the U.S.’s 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, including those from Canada.
The U.S. went ahead with the 25 per cent tariff March 12 after briefly threatening to escalate it to 50 per cent on Canadian exports just one day previously.
Unlike the first set of tariffs imposed by the U.S. which only applied to goods from Mexico and Canada, this tariff on steel and aluminum applies to all imports, regardless of origin, and derivative products, as well.
Canada’s Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the U.S. tariffs unfairly target Canada’s steel and aluminum industries. Canada is the largest supplier of steel and aluminum to the U.S.
The majority of the goods — $15.6 billion — facing the March 13 counter-tariff will be U.S. steel and aluminum products, LeBlanc says. The balance of over $14 billion will be spread over other American goods coming into Canada. The exact list of these new tariffs has not yet been publicly released.
The Canadian government had already implemented 25 per cent tariffs on approximately $30 billion worth of U.S. imports, as of March 4. Finance Canada has also published a list of imports worth $125 billion that could face counter-tariffs. This tranche of counter-tariffs was put “on hold” until at least April 2, 2025 after the U.S. eased the initial tariffs, but only on USMCA-compliant goods. Tariff exemptions under USMCA rules only cover about half of the trade between Canada and the U.S.
The European Union also responded to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs Wednesday by unveiling countermeasures on up to €26 billion (US$28 billion) worth of American goods.
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