Canada announces billions in retaliatory tariffs against US

Toronto, June 30: Canada has announced billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs against the US in response to Trump administration's duties on Canadian steel and aluminum. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government released the final list of items on Friday that will be targeted from July 1.

 

Some items will be subject to taxes of 10 or 25 percent. The taxes on items including ketchup, lawn mowers and motor boats amount to $12.6 billion. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said this is a perfectly reciprocal action. She added that they are prepared if U.S. President Donald Trump escalates the trade war.

“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,” Trudeau’s office said in a statement.

“The two leaders agreed to stay in close touch on a way forward.”

It was their first direct conversation since Trump tweeted that Trudeau was “weak” and “dishonest” after leaving the G-7 meetings in Quebec earlier this month.

Trudeau also spoke to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and updated him on Canada’s response to the U.S tariffs.