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<\/p>\nMost of the counter-tariffs Ottawa slapped on U.S. goods earlier this year have now been removed, with a few exceptions.<\/p>\n
Canada placed duties on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods in response to American tariffs on various Canadian goods. Those tariffs are gone as of Monday, though some levies remain on non-CUSMA-compliant goods \u2014 such as tariffs on steel and\u00a0aluminum products to counter U.S. tariffs targeting those industries.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Aug. 22 the tariffs would be coming off, arguing they were a sticking point in negotiations with the U.S. and that doing so was in Canada’s economic interest.<\/p>\n
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc travelled to Washington last week \u2014 the first time since July \u2014 to meet with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.<\/p>\n
WATCH | It’s time to ‘stickhandle’ with U.S., Carney says:<\/p>\n
Although he characterized the conversation as constructive, LeBlanc told Radio-Canada host Patrice Roy\u00a0on Wednesday that the two countries aren’t on the verge of an agreement.<\/p>\n
The trip “helped us move forward in the sense that we better understood the work that remains to be done,” LeBlanc said in French.<\/p>\n
“We are not on the verge of having an agreement, but we are making progress.”<\/p>\n
WATCH | LeBlanc reports ‘productive’ trade talks:<\/p>\n
The minister didn’t offer details on what needs to be resolved, but the government is under pressure to make progress with the Americans after dropping the counter-tariffs.<\/p>\n
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has accused Carney of showing “weakness” on the international stage.<\/p>\n
The move was “yet another capitulation and climb-down by Mark Carney,” Poilievre said the day Carney announced the counter-tariffs would end.<\/p>\n
“His elbows have mysteriously gone missing.”<\/p>\n
WATCH | Poilievre slams Carney’s negotiating skills:<\/p>\n
Carney and his government have also faced criticism from workers and producers still impacted by sectoral U.S. tariffs.<\/p>\n
Catherine Cobden, president and CEO of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said in a statement last month that removing counter-tariffs was a “disappointment.”<\/p>\n
“Reciprocal tariffs protect Canada’s industries and workers during this trade war,” the statement read.<\/p>\n
Marty Warren, national director of the United Steelworkers (USW), criticized the move in his own statement.<\/p>\n
“The federal government must remain steadfast in working to not only safeguard and protect Canadian workers but aggressively build Canadian economic resiliency,” he said.<\/p>\n
How did we get here?<\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump had been signalling he wanted new tariffs even before he returned to the White House in January.<\/p>\n
Days after being sworn in, Trump signed an executive order taxing Canadian exports to the U.S. at 25 per cent, except energy, critical minerals and potash, which were hit with a rate of 10 per cent.<\/p>\n
Those tariffs took effect on March 4 and Canada immediately hit back with tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods. Two days later, Trump amended the tariffs to exclude products that comply with the terms of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).<\/p>\n
A week later, Trump put\u00a0a 25 per cent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. Canada responded with further counter-tariffs on an additional $29 billion worth of U.S. goods \u2014 including steel and aluminum products.<\/p>\n
In April, after threatening to impose a 25 per cent tariff on automobiles and auto parts from outside the U.S., Trump watered down the levy\u00a0so it only applies to parts that aren’t CUSMA-compliant and the non-U.S. portion of assembled vehicles. Canada responded in kind with a 25 per cent tariff on vehicles imported from the U.S. that are not CUSMA-compliant.<\/p>\n
In June, Trump doubled his tariffs on steel and aluminum\u00a0to 50 per cent. While the tariffs apply to all imports, Canada is the top supplier of both metals to the U.S.<\/p>\n
Canada and the U.S. set an Aug. 1 deadline to reach some sort of agreement on tariffs, but the deadline passed without a resolution. Trump then upped\u00a0tariffs on non-CUSMA-compliant goods to 35 per cent and added a 50 per cent tariff on certain copper imports \u2014 again, a product where Canada is a major U.S. supplier.<\/p>\n
Is any of this violating\u00a0CUSMA?<\/p>\n
Whether or not the U.S. or Canada have broken the trade deal signed during Trump’s first term seems to depend on who you ask.<\/p>\n
Trump’s\u00a0sectoral tariffs \u2014 which cover goods under CUSMA’s umbrella \u2014 use national security justifications.<\/p>\n
Carlo Dade, the international policy director at the University of Calgary’s school of public policy, said national security exemptions are in most trade agreements.<\/p>\n
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U.S. President Donald Trump signs CUSMA alongside Mexican President Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The trade deal is up for review next year. (Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
“You’re not going to sacrifice your security for the sake of honouring a trade agreement. It’s just common sense,” he told CBC News.<\/p>\n
Mark Warner, an international trade lawyer, said CUSMA’s national security exemption is a bit unique in that it relies on “self-judgment” for what constitutes a national security concern.<\/p>\n
“It can’t be second-guessed by a dispute settlement panel,” he said.<\/p>\n
Dade said that Trump’s national security claims on Canada are pretty flimsy and that the U.S. is violating the “spirit” of CUSMA, if not the letter.<\/p>\n
For example, Trump has referred to fentanyl coming into Canada \u2014 despite the northern border accounting for a tiny fraction of the drug seized by U.S. authorities \u2014 as a reason for taxing some Canadian products. The president has also said that ensuring steel and aluminum is manufactured in the U.S. is a security priority.<\/p>\n
Dade calls this a loophole “that you could drive a tractor-trailer through.”<\/p>\n
But Warner suggested that from the American perspective, Canada hasn’t always held up the spirit of the agreement either, pointing to disputes over how Ottawa has implemented<\/a>dairy quotas as an example<\/a>.<\/p>\n “I don’t find it all that useful to try and figure out who’s to blame here,” he said. “It’s just like arguments between kids in the playground.”<\/p>\n Where to from here?<\/p>\n It is unclear when or if Canada and the U.S. will reach an agreement.<\/p>\n Warner estimates that Canada will have to accept a “tariff-rate quota” on steel, aluminum and copper \u2014 where the U.S. agrees to import a certain amount of those Canadian products before duties are applied.<\/p>\n Some of Trump’s tariffs are also facing legal challenges in the U.S., which \u2014 if successful \u2014 may help the Canadian cause, Dade said.<\/p>\n While many Canadian goods are exempt from U.S. tariffs, steel is among the items still being taxed on import. (Carlos Osorio\/Reuters)<\/p>\n “It doesn’t mean that the tariff threat is gone. But it means that the machine gun is taken away and the president is left with the 9-mm,” he said.<\/p>\n![\"Prime](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/8053c567bef62434bc0adee8fc4fe8cb.jpeg\"\/)
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