Canada will impose retaliatory tariffs on the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Saturday, responding dollar for dollar to Washington’s 50 percent levy on Canadian goods. The new duties, effective September 8, will target US steel, dairy and electronics, among other industries.
Carney made the announcement in Ottawa, saying the tariffs would apply to US steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics, as well as other goods previously hit by Washington. “Canada will match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses,” he told reporters.
The move came after several days of intense negotiations broke down late Friday, further damaging a relationship between two nations that have long been close trade partners and allies.
The US levy covers wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods and hockey equipment, totalling about $20bn, or 5.5 percent of Canadian exports to the US.
President Donald Trump responded on Truth Social, writing: “Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!!” He also accused Canada of charging US farmers “massive amounts” of tariffs for years and said, “No more!!!”
Carney said the talks fell apart after the US proposed terms that were “uneconomic, unfair and undermined the net benefits for Canada,” and that jeopardised any potential agreement. These demands, he said, included restricting Canada’s ability to forge new trade deals. “We cannot accept what they’ve offered, and we will not give what they’ve asked.”
He further alleged that US negotiators made “threats” to the French language and “Quebec culture,” referring to the province of Quebec in eastern Canada.
The prime minister said Canada would release full details of its response in the coming days and announce support measures next week for affected industries, with assistance potentially lasting years.
Carney has been among the few global leaders to retaliate against US tariffs, pledging to build new trade and military alliances even as Canada depends on the US for nearly 70 percent of its exports.
The economic consequences are expected to be severe. “Costs are going to go up, prices are going to go up, unemployment is going to go up as well,” said Al Jazeera’s David Mercer, reporting from Calgary. “And it’s been warned that business owners – small [and] medium-sized businesses – some of those will have to declare bankruptcy.”
Mercer added that Carney is trying to reframe the dispute as an opportunity. “He’s been around the world, he’s been talking to countries in Asia, in Europe, shoring up new trade relationships, wanting to diversify Canada’s economy and Canada’s trade relationships with other countries around the world just to get away from that dependency that Canada has traditionally had on the United States,” Mercer said.
Public opinion in Canada appears to support a tough stance. A Leger poll last week showed 56 percent of Canadians favour a hard line and no further concessions.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford endorsed Carney’s decision. “I’m glad he didn’t sign that deal because it was a bad deal. It was a bad deal for Ontario. It was a bad deal for the auto sector, the steel sector, and manufacturing sector,” Ford told reporters on Saturday.
Residents also expressed concern. Stuart Edwards, from Port Colborne, Ontario, said the trade war would “hurt everybody” and was “just sad.” He described Washington’s approach as bullying: “We have a bully in Washington, and he’s just hitting us all with the big stick all the time. And we’re not going to put up with it; Canada isn’t. We’ll fight back.”
Pamela Coulis, from Fort Erie, said she expected prices to rise. “I think probably the gas will go up even more, and all products, from food to, I don’t know, wood, everything else,” she said.
Diamond Isinger, a former special adviser to ex Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said both countries would suffer but that Canada had no alternative. “It’s going to cause pain and challenge for Canadians and Americans alike – in terms of the actions that, unfortunately, the US has taken as well as Canada’s retaliation. But ultimately this was the way forward; this was the only realistic next step,” she said.
Isinger said the US administration responds best to strength. “Because the US administration responds best, of all the responses that they could have, to all the actions that a government like Canada could take, to strength,” she said. “So, we could not simply accept 50 percent tariffs going forward. We had to move forward with our own retaliatory package.”
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News that no new talks are planned. “We’re moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation,” he said. “They’ve always had the best deal, and they still would have an even better deal, but they didn’t want that.”
Democrats in border states, including Minnesota, New York and Washington, blamed Trump for causing economic chaos. New York Governor Kathy Hochul wrote on X: “Needlessly picking fights with our allies and raising prices here at home. That’s Trump’s economic policy in a nutshell.”
The Business Roundtable, which represents around 200 chief executives of leading US corporations, warned that the new tariffs “risk raising costs for American businesses and families” and urged both governments to resume negotiations.
