Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. to total $3.6 billion

OTTAWA – Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada will hit back against U.S. tariffs on Canadian aluminum with $3.6 billion in tariffs of our own.

Freeland says the tariffs will match dollar-for-dollar the costs of the planned 10 per cent import tariff on Canadian raw aluminum that will apply starting Aug. 16.

“The final tariffs that we impose will be, as I said, perfectly reciprocal, dollar for dollar, and the total amount will be 3.6 billion,” Freeland said.

President Donald Trump accuses Canada of breaking a promise not to flood the U.S. market with aluminum, an accusation Canada and its aluminum producers say is completely false.

“In imposing these tariffs, the United States has taken the absurd decision to harm its own people at a time when it economy is suffering the deepest crisis since the Great Depression,” Freeland added.

“These tariffs are unnecessary, unwarranted and entirely unacceptable. They should not be imposed. Let me be clear: Canadian aluminum is in no way a threat to U.S. national security, which remains the extensible reason for these tariffs. And that is a ludicrous notion.”

‘Canadian aluminum essential’

She added Canadian aluminum is essential for U.S., industry, including national defense.

“Canada has, for decades, been a reliable supplier of aluminum for U.S. value-added manufacturers. Aluminum trade between Canada and the United States is mutually beneficial for both of our countries, and it makes our interconnected North American aluminum industry more competitive around the world.”

The deputy prime minister said Ottawa has a long list of U.S. products containing aluminum to possibly target for the retaliation, including washing machines, golf clubs, and exercise equipment.

“Any American who buys a can of beer or a soda, or a car or a bike, will suffer. In fact, the very washing machines manufactured at the Whirlpool plant where the president made his announcement yesterday will become more expensive for Americans and less competitive with machines produced elsewhere in the world as a result of these tariffs,” Freeland said.

“These tariffs will hurt American consumers and they will hurt American workers. Furthermore, with the new NAFTA having come into force on July 1, now is the time to advance North American economic competitiveness. Not to hinder it,” she added.

‘Government will defend Canadian workers’

“The new NAFTA ensures that 70 per cent of the aluminum purchased by North American automakers needs to be produced in North America.”

The Canadian aluminum industry provides approximately, 10,000 jobs production jobs and tens of thousands more that are directly related, Freeland said.

The government will spend the next 30 days consulting with the domestic industry to determine which items on the list will end up being targeted.

Freeland also said the goal is to inflict the least damage on Canada while having the “strongest possible impact” on the United States.

“The [federal] government will always defend our aluminum industry and Canadian workers.”

She insists action taken by Canada is not an escalation of the tariff situation, but the country will not back down.

“At a time when we are fighting a global pandemic, working on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border to prevent loss of life and preserve jobs, the trade dispute is the last thing anyone needs,” Freeland said.

“It will only hurt economic recovery on both sides of the border. However, this is what the U.S. administration has chosen to do.”

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