Canada’s Counter-Tariffs Hit $27.6 Billion in U.S. Goods as Talks Stay Dead

Ottawa’s retaliatory duties took effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday on U.S. products covering $27.6 billion in annual imports, matching what Canada’s Finance Department said was the value of Canadian goods hit by President Donald Trump’s 50 percent Section 338 tariffs on Aug. 22. Rates of 15, 25, and 50 percent apply across roughly 700 items, with each product’s rate set to the corresponding U.S. levy. Steel and aluminum products that had faced a 25 percent Canadian counter-tariff moved to 50 percent. Furniture, clothing and apparel also face 50 percent. Appliances, cheese and some steel and aluminum derivatives are at 25 percent. Electronics, tools, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, plastics, and other industrial goods are on the list at 15, 25, or 50 percent. Goods already in transit on Sept. 8 are exempt. Existing 25 percent Canadian surtaxes on U.S. autos remain. No new negotiating round was scheduled over the Labor Day weekend.

The Canadian package answers the collapse of talks late Aug. 21. Trump’s Section 338 tariffs on Canadian wine, furniture, dairy, cement, clothing, fishing rods, hockey equipment and other goods went live Aug. 22 after a brief pause. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would match Washington “dollar for dollar, rate for rate.” Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the counter-tariffs and a multibillion-dollar support package would “protect workers, farmers, families, and businesses.” Carney said last-minute U.S. terms were “unfair, uneconomic” and that Washington “asked too much and offered too little.” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada declined to finalize terms agreed earlier that week, citing “new demands and walk backs,” and later told Fox News the offer was “in Canada’s corner.” He told CBC there were “no open channels” immediately after the breakdown. Officials on both sides have traded blame; neither announced a restart before Tuesday’s clock.

On Monday, hours before the Canadian duties bit, Trump posted on Truth Social: “NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES!” He said the Montreal planemaker must manufacture in the United States if it wants the U.S. market and accused Canada of treating America “like a piggybank.” No executive order accompanied the post. Bombardier said it already employs thousands in the United States, including wing production in Red Oak, Texas, and sites in Kansas and other states. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., whose state hosts Bombardier’s U.S. headquarters, objected. Trump has also said 50 percent tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts, and steel would take effect Jan. 1 unless production moves to the United States. Canada announced a C$7.5 billion package of liquidity, Business Development Bank loans, and sector aid for firms hit by U.S. duties. U.S. steel, dairy, farm-equipment, furniture, and appliance shipments into Canada now clear at the new rates. USMCA annual reviews continue separately; CUSMA-origin exemptions do not apply to the Section 338 list that triggered this round.