Lead image for Canada to retaliate for US tariffs, worsening ties after talks fail.
Canada will impose tariffs on some US goods in retaliation for 50 per cent levies ordered by President Donald Trump on Canadian products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Saturday, after trade talks collapsed between the two neighbours.
The "dollar for dollar" tariffs on imports of US steel, electronics and other products, to take effect on September 8, mark a further worsening of relations between the longtime allies and major trading partners.
The two countries failed to reach a trade deal late on Friday, with each side blaming the other for derailing three days of intensive negotiations. The breakdown complicates the future of a US-Mexico-Canada free-trade pact.
Trump's new tariffs hit sectors including wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods and hockey equipment, covering some $20 billion of Canadian exports to the US. These duties do not exempt Canadian products under the three-nation trade deal, which has shielded most Canadian exports to the US in the last 18 months.
"We got attacked"
"Canada will match Washington's new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses," Carney told a press conference.
"You're at war when you get attacked. We got attacked," Carney said when asked a question about whether Canada was engaged in a trade war.
Carney is one of the few global leaders to retaliate against US tariffs and has pledged to forge new trade and military alliances, despite Canada's dependence on the United States for nearly 70 per cent of its exports.