Month that goes by, new duties that you find yourself facing and in the sights of Donald Trump there is the again Canada. After months in which the president's attention was focused on the Middle East and especially after the defeat taken by the Supreme Court that last February he had rejected his tariffs, the White House returns to the charge, announcing new duties of 50% on imports of a range of Canadian products, from wine to cement to hockey sticks. The tariffs should enter into force in 30 days.
Trump: Canada calls for "discriminatory treatment"
After the High Court de facto barred him from using the International Emergency Powers Act, Trump did not lose heart and this time decided to resort to a 1930 trade law (Section 338 of the Trade Act), which allows the United States to impose tariffs of up to 50% against countries accused of discriminating against American goods.
The new ones would therefore represent a retaliation for alleged discriminatory treatment which, according to Trump, Canada would have reserved for the United States. In particular, the tycoon cited the 25% tariffs imposed by Ottawa on some car made in Use, the ban on the sale of alcohol products in the United States established in many Canadian provinces and dairy policies that the tycoon claims would disadvantage the United States in favor of Europe. These are all measures that Canadians introduced in response to previous tariffs imposed by the United States. An anonymous U.S. administration official told reporters that Canada was one of the few countries, in addition to China, to react to Trump's previous tariffs and will therefore have to answer for them.
Goods affected by the new duties
The new tariffs, which will take effect on August 19th, affect a wide range of products, from wine to hockey sticks and cement. The tariffs will also affect products that should be exempt under the United States, Canada, and Mexico Trade Agreement (Cusma). Energy products, potash, fish, and critical minerals will be excluded.
Carney's response
“Aware that, over the last 18 months, The US has transformed all its trade relationsi, including those of the Canada-United States-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (CUSMA), "Canada has put forward a series of detailed and comprehensive proposals to resolve the dispute and modernize the agreement." Ottawa Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote this in a statement. "We are ready to intensify discussions in the coming weeks,” he added.
