The new tariffs are a significant ramp up in the trade dispute, and add to trade barriers already in place between the two countries.<\/p>\n
The US has been maintaining active tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on Canadian steel, aluminium and copper. It also charges a 35% tariff on Canadian softwood lumber, alongside a 25% tax on non-US parts in cars.<\/p>\n
Those so-called sectoral tariffs are taking a bite out of those industries, and Canada is seeking some relief in ongoing talks with their US counterparts.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Canada has its own 25% counter-tariff on selected imports of American steel, aluminium and vehicles, and most provinces removed US alcohol from the shelves last year in response to the US levies.<\/p>\n
The latest tariff threat, announced in the form of a presidential proclamation, also comes as parallel talks with Mexico appear to be progressing more quickly, adding more squeeze on Carney to reach an agreement. <\/p>\n
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is in Mexico this week for the latest round of formal trade talks. Last week, Greer told the Aspen Security Forum that while he and his Canadian counterparts speak weekly, “we just haven’t seen a lot of movement” on negotiations.<\/p>\n
The US was the only party to refuse to renew the USMCA, the trilateral agreement, this month.<\/p>\n
The agreement, which underpins around $2tn (\u00a31.5tn) in trade each year, is facing pressure over unresolved disputes and US officials are pushing for changes. Without a long-term extension, the deal will undergo annual reviews until it expires in a decade.<\/p>\n
The new US pressure could also signal a renewed broader focus by Trump on tariffs.<\/p>\n
Canada has often been one of the first countries targeted by the US before it imposes them more widely – becoming a leading indicator of where American trade policies are headed.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Greer hinted more global US tariffs were on their way.<\/p>\n
“We expect to see some action soon,” he told CNBC in an interview. “I can’t really specify a timeline right now. I have responsibility to brief Congress and other stakeholders before I really reveal that kind of thing.”<\/p>\n
Carney, meanwhile, told reporters on Tuesday that he had spoken with Trump and the pair had agreed to intensify trade talks.<\/p>\n
He also said Canada would “look at all options in terms of how we would respond” if the new tariffs come into effect next month.<\/p>\n
Carney, who has repeatedly said that no deal is better than a bad deal with Trump, stressed that Canada’s objective remains getting a comprehensive agreement signed with the US.<\/p>\n
He is set to meet with Canada’s provincial premiers on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the response to the latest US pressure, but may feel pushed himself by some provincial leaders to fight back. <\/p>\n
“We can’t keep rolling over, we can’t keep backing down, we have to go full tilt,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford, one of the most high-profile Canadian critics of Trump’s trade policies, said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Lawrence Herman, a trade expert with the CD Howe Institute think tank, also urged a tough response.<\/p>\n
“Giving in and trying to get along with the United States by making concessions now is not the right strategy, and it would be, I think, harmful to Canada’s national pride and our international standing in the eyes of the world,” he told the BBC. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new tariffs are a significant ramp up in the trade dispute, and add to trade barriers already…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704195,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-704194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}