Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. will take effect the Tuesday after Labour Day, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
That means, as of Sept. 8, Canada will be matching the U.S. tariffs dollar for dollar. Details of those tariffs will be released later.
Carney said this move is made reluctantly, but it is nonetheless a confident step and the best course of action for our country.
This comes after trade talks between the U.S. and Canada collapsed, and Carney ordered negotiators back to Ottawa.
That is because, as the deadline loomed, the U.S. brought forward changes that were “unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”
Some of those changes included limiting Canada’s ability to make new trade deals with other countries, which is a key focus of Carney’s administration since the U.S. broke trust and began attacking Canada with tariffs.
“This government will never accept that,” Carney said in a Saturday press conference.
He said the U.S. also asked Canada to limit the accessibility of French media online.
Carney said Canada would never limit our sovereignty by stripping away protections to French language and, this, our culture.
Boosting economy despite setback
In a news conference Saturday, Carney said our country is moving away from relying on the U.S. by country a monumental number of deals with other countries.
In a statement Friday, Carney pointed to nearly $500 billion in infrastructure projects currently underway and efforts to increase access to international markets through existing and new trade agreements.
Carney also cited economic indicators including increased foreign investment, job growth, and rising exports to non-U.S. markets as signs that Canada’s strategy is working.
“We will not allow any nation to determine our future,” he said. “We will set our own course to keep building Canada strong for all.”
‘Trade war’
“This is a trade war,” says political science expert Tom Urbaniak, with Cape Breton University.
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will likely be targeted, he says, hitting industries and sectors where American voters will feel it the worst, and especially swing districts heading into the upcoming midterm elections.
“There is this mood that maybe we can band together and take some pain and say, ‘Enough is enough,’” says Urbaniak.
“Maybe [we will] send a message to American voters that they have done something that is not in their own interest, and that they are hurting the world, not just perceived adversaries, but their own closest allies.”
So far, the U.S. has a plan to hit $28 billion dollars worth of Canadian goods, which includes steel tariffs, and would heavily affect the auto sector, according to Urbaniak.
But if “Canada dares respond,” they have threatened to hit us even harder, and more tariffs could be announced.
“Will that come in the form of another Truth Social post or in some sort of fit of rage or anger on the part of Trump? That is quite possible.”
“This is a fast-moving story, and we will be hearing more […] in the coming hours and days.”
Tariff relief
As the country prepares to hit back with dollar-for-dollar tariffs, Urbaniak says that money will likely be used to support the hardest hit sectors in the short-term.
The federal government has said they are preparing additional measures to support workers and businesses affected by the tariffs. Carney said those measures will build on nearly $25 billion in support already provided over the past 18 months.
In the long-term, however, that is a different story. The price of a lot of things in both countries could be seriously affected, he says.
But this is also another blow to the relationship between both countries in the eyes of Canadians.
Generations to repair trust
Some Canadians may have been going back to the United States after stopping some travel, but this would likely renew the public’s pushback against our neighbour.
“The damage is generational to the United States, and somebody finally has to say that to the American public, that it’s time for them to awaken their conscience. And it’s time for them, the American public, to show some responsibility and to put mature adults into positions of leadership.”
More to come…
