Ottawa, March 5 (IANS) The Canadian federal government has announced a detailed tariff package after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed that Canada will not back down from a fight against the trade war initiated by US President Donald Trump.
According to a news statement issued on Tuesday by the Finance Ministry, the first phase of Canada’s response includes tariffs on 30 billion Canadian dollars (about $21 billion) in goods imported from the US, effective as of 12:01 a.m., March 4.
The list includes products such as orange juice, peanut butter, wine, spirits, beer, coffee, appliances, apparel, footwear, motorcycles, cosmetics, and certain pulp and paper products, Xinhua news agency reported.
The additional countermeasures on 125 billion Canadian dollars (about $89 billion) in imports from the US would be from a list of goods open for a 21-day comment period which includes products such as electric vehicles, fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, dairy, electronics, steel, aluminum, trucks, and buses, the statement said.
The government is also taking steps to mitigate the impact of these countermeasures on Canadian workers and businesses by establishing a remission process to consider requests for exceptional relief from the tariffs, the statement added.
All options remain on the table as the government considers additional measures, including non-tariff options, the statement said.
Trudeau said during his speech to the nation earlier on Tuesday that Canada will also be challenging the US illegal actions by filing dispute resolution claims at the World Trade Organisation and through the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement, or the free trade mechanism in North America that was renegotiated by Trump in his last term.
The counter tariffs will remain in place until the US tariffs are withdrawn and not a moment sooner, Trudeau added.
The Canadian PM told a press conference on Tuesday that there is no justification for the trade war Canada and the US are entangled in and Canada will challenge Trump’s moves.
“So today, the US launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend,” said the Canadian PM, who repeated Canada’s retaliation.
The Canadian government hit back with an initial 30 billion Canadian dollars ($21 billion) in tariffs on US goods, with the promise to add another 125 billion Canadian dollars more in 21 days’ time.
Trudeau vowed that American families, and Trump, will soon feel how damaging the tariffs are. Speaking to the camera, Trudeau addressed Trump directly saying that “This is a very dumb thing to do”.
He accused Trump of wanting to “see a complete collapse of the Canadian economy”, believing that’s the reason Trump is moving ahead so aggressively.
“Because that will make it easier to annex us, is the second part of his thought,” said Trudeau, “That is never going to happen.”
He called the President’s claims the tariffs are needed because of fentanyl seeping across the border from Canada to the US “unjustified and false excuse”.
Canadian officials made a month-long diplomatic push to avoid tariffs and has responded to Trump’s concerns about the border.
Canada named a new “fentanyl czar” and listed Mexican cartels as terrorist groups.
On February 1, Trump signed an executive order to impose a 25 per cent tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada, with a 10 per cent tariff increase specifically for Canadian energy products.
On February 3, Trump announced that the additional tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada would be deferred for one month, allowing more time for negotiations.
Trump said on Monday that 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada will take effect on Tuesday, March 4.
–IANS
int/khz
