Canadian officials announced a slew of retaliatory tariffs against the United States amid an escalating trade war that ignited after trade talks broke down last week.
Finance and National Revenue Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced at a morning news conference that Canada is imposing 15%, 25% and 50% tariffs on nearly $20 billion worth of U.S. products. Canada’s tariffs are largely focused on goods heavily impacted by the new U.S. taxes, including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics.
“Canada’s counter tariffs are designed primarily to provide protection for Canadian industry impacted by U.S. tariffs and allow them to compete against U.S. products in the Canadian market,” Champagne said.
The tariff war between the two historically close allies ignited after Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from trade negotiations on Friday over what he described as a bad deal. The Trump administration’s tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods went into effect on Saturday, and Trump threatened further tariffs on Canadian automobiles and steel.
In response, Carney warned that he would match those tariffs “dollar for dollar.” Trump continued to needle Canada over the weekend, including by alluding to his past suggestions to annex the country. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump claimed on Truth Social that Canada has been “ripping off” the U.S. for decades and blamed the country for American companies going under.
“I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,” Trump added. He also threatened to rename Lake Ontario, which spans the U.S.-Canada border, to “Lake America.”
Canada’s refusal to back down from Trump’s threats is a marked difference from how the country and other U.S. allies have dealt with this administration. In defiant remarks on Saturday after he abandoned trade talks with the U.S., Carney told Canadians, “You’re at war when you’re attacked, and we got attacked.”
Canadian leaders have by and large rallied around Carney. “We have to make sure that as Donald Trump is trying to inflict pain on every Canadian that we inflict pain right back, until he realizes that we are his number one customer in the world,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said over the weekend.
Champagne said on Tuesday that Canada’s retaliatory tariffs are “proportionate, targeted and strategic.” He described the U.S.’ proposals during negotiations as “uneconomic, unfair, and ultimately unacceptable.”
“They asked too much of Canada and offered too little in return,” he said.
Some Democrats have also harshly criticized Trump. “Canada didn’t start this trade war—Trump did,” Sen. Patty Murray of Washington state wrote on X Tuesday. “Trump’s tariffs are a tax and you’re paying the bill for his pointless and embarrassing tantrum.”
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