Feds unveil U.S. tariff targets
Duties start on Sunday; $2B financial-aid package for affected businesses
OTTAWA — The Trudeau government intensified Friday its trade fight with U.S. President Donald Trump, posting an extensive final hit list of $16.6-billion worth of American imports that will be slapped with retaliatory tariffs this weekend.
The federal government also released specifics of a financial-aid package for industries caught in the crossfire, including up to $2 billion in fresh funding and support for workers in Canada’s steel, aluminum and manufacturing sectors.
Ottawa’s unprecedented reprisal against its closest ally comes in response to the Trump administration’s punishing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
So what comes next? There are preparations for the possibility of a drawn-out and escalating dispute.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland unveiled the details — including a full list of the targeted U.S. products — during a news conference at a steel factory in Hamilton, Ont.
“Canada has no choice but to retaliate with a measured, perfectly reciprocal dollar-for-dollar response — and that is what we are doing,” Freeland said.
“They will take effect on July 1 and will remain in place until the United States eliminates its trade-restrictive measures against Canada.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau apparently reiterated that position to the president on Friday.
A readout of the phone call released by the prime minister’s office says Trudeau called Trump to express his condolences on a deadly shooting at a newspaper in Maryland on Thursday — but the two leaders also discussed trade.
“As he has said in past conversations and in public, the prime minister conveyed that Canada has had no choice but to announce reciprocal countermeasures to the steel and aluminum tariffs that the United States imposed on June 1, 2018,” the readout stated.
“The two leaders agreed to stay in close touch on a way forward.”
Aside from tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the U.S., dozens of additional consumer goods will be subject to 10 per cent duties — from ketchup, to lawn mowers, to playing cards.
It’s all part of Ottawa’s plan to strike back at the U.S. in response to hefty tariffs on steel and aluminum, 25 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, imposed last month by Trump.
Freeland called the legal pretext used by the U.S. to impose the duties — that Canada poses a national security threat — “not only absurd, it’s hurtful.”
“We are perfectly within our rights to respond,” said Freeland, who was joined at the announcement by Trudeau cabinet colleagues Patty Hajdu and Navdeep Bains. There are fears, however, that Canadian tariffs — some of which target businesses in states that are important to Trump and his supporters — could lead to fresh trade action from the U.S.
Trump himself has already threatened to put tariffs on the automotive sector, which could prove far worse for the Canadian economy than the steel and aluminum duties. Peter Clark, an Ottawa trade consultant, said U.S. automotive tariffs would be a “disaster — pure, unmitigated disaster” for Canada.
Freeland, asked whether she feared the U.S. would escalate matters, recalled a public comment she made before the start of NAFTA negotiations — another tough Canada-U.S. trade file. At the time, she said she told Canadians the federal government expected “moments of drama in this process.”
“I think that prediction has been borne out,” she said.
Domestic businesses, particularly those in the steel sector, have expressed deep concerns about any escalation in the trade battle.
More broadly, the effects of the trade fight are expected to hurt both economies — putting jobs at risk and potentially raising consumer prices.
Friday’s federal package includes similar measures to those offered by Ottawa last year in response U.S. duties on softwood lumber from Canada.
For the latest dispute, the government intends to help affected workers by doubling the duration of worksharing agreements under the employment insurance program to 76 weeks from 38 weeks. The aim is to help businesses retain skilled workers and avoid layoffs during any rough patches ahead.
> U.S. automakers oppose Trump tariffs, B4 > List of Canadian tariffs on U.S. goods, online link at timescolonist.com/more