US imposes new 50pc tariffs on $20bn worth of Canadian products
US President Donald Trump unveiled 50 per cent tariffs on a wide range of imports from Canada on Monday in response to what the US administration called its discriminatory treatment of American-made cars, alcohol and dairy goods, threatening a new front in a...
The United States has announced new 50 per cent tariffs on a broad range of Canadian imports, escalating a trade dispute that Washington says is tied to Canada’s treatment of American-made cars, alcohol and dairy products.
According to a monitored public feed based on Dawn World, President Donald Trump unveiled the measures on Monday and said they would cover goods worth nearly $20 billion. The tariffs are due to take effect in 30 days, or August 19, and would apply to items including wine, cement, ice hockey gear, dairy products, swimming pools, furniture, fishing rods, seeds, clothing and wigs.
The White House said the move was being taken under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, a rarely cited law that allows a president to impose punitive tariffs of up to 50 per cent on trading partners considered to have discriminated against US goods. Trade historians noted that this appears to be the first known use of the provision in nearly a century.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement that Canada “continues to retaliate” against American efforts to rebalance trade and protect US industry in what Washington described as national-security-sensitive sectors. He said the administration was pursuing “fair and reciprocal trade deals” with partners, while singling out Canada as unlike other allies.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government had already made comprehensive proposals to address trade disputes with Washington and argued that Trump’s earlier tariffs violated the North American trade pact. “This trade dispute has raised costs for families, particularly in the US,” he said, adding that Canada remained ready to engage on outstanding issues “to the mutual benefit of our citizens.”
The US Trade Representative’s office said the new tariffs would affect nearly $20 billion of Canadian imports, about 5.2 per cent of the $382 billion in goods the US imported from Canada in 2025, according to US Census Bureau data cited in the feed.
The White House also pointed to Canada’s dairy supply management system and to tariffs and quotas on US-made cars entering Canada, while saying most Canadian provinces had stopped selling American alcohol in response to earlier US tariffs. It said imports of US motor vehicles into Canada had fallen by 22 per cent and US alcoholic beverages by 81 per cent over the past year.
The latest move comes as US officials continue separate trade talks with Mexico on changes Washington wants in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Greer is in Mexico City this week for bilateral discussions, and Canada has reportedly been left out of those negotiations.
The feed also noted an exchange between Trump and Carney on Sunday at the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey, where Trump urged Carney to act on wildfires sending smoke into parts of the United States. Trump had threatened last week to add the cost of dealing with the pollution to existing tariffs on Canadian goods.
Trade law experts quoted in the feed said Section 338 had historically been associated with the protectionist era that intensified the Great Depression, and one former US trade official described the current move as ironic given its use in retaliation to retaliatory tariffs.
This report is based on a monitored public feed and is attributed to Dawn World.
Source: Dawn World - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017209/us-imposes-new-50pc-tariffs-on-20bn-worth-of-canadian-products
