Shortly after the U.S. levied a 25% tariff Wednesday on all steel and aluminum imports, Canada said it would levy a 25% tariff on over $20 billion in U.S. goods in response.
The new Canadian tariffs, which are in addition to the $30 billion in goods tariffed March 4, include aluminum, steel, computers, cast iron products and sports equipment, among others.
Canada Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, the point person on Canadian-U.S. relations, said the government must retaliate to U.S. tariffs.
“We will not stand idly by,” he said, “while our iconic steel and aluminum industries are being unfairly targeted.”
President Donald Trump said the steel and aluminum tariffs were necessary because imported goods posed a national security threat. Canada Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said the claim was bogus and insulting.
“The excuse for these tariffs shift every day,” she said. “The only constant seems to be President Trump’s talks of annexing our country through economic coercion. We will not back down and we will not give in to this coercion.”
Canadian officials are scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss existing tariffs and those which the president has suggested will be issued April 2.
“We will continue to maintain our countermeasures,” LeBlanc said, “and increase them on April 2 if we cannot get to a position where their initial measures are all lifted from Canadian businesses.”
Thursday morning, the president racheted up tariff threats against the European Union. The EU issued retaliatory tariffs Wednesday after the steel and aluminum tariffs took effect. Included among the tariffs is a 50% tariff on imported whiskey.
President Trump on Thursday morning said unless the tariff is removed, the U.S. will issue a 200% tariff on wines, champagne and alcohol imported from the EU.
Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday the president’s tariff policies are the most important thing the U.S. ever had. When asked whether the tariffs are worth the economy rolling into a recession, he said, “It is worth it.”
“The only reason there could possibly be a recession,” he said, “is because of the Biden nonsense that we had to live with.”
Lutnick said the policies produced revenues and anyone who thinks the tariff policies are chaotic “is someone who’s being silly.”
