Canada has announced new tariffs on about $21 billion-worth of U.S. products after President Donald Trump upped the ante in the tariff war between the two nations.
This development comes one day after the province of Ontario backed down from its plan to levy a hefty surcharge on electricity going to three different U.S. states.
From NBC News:
Canada has announced new trade duties on some $21 billion-worth of U.S. goods in response to President Donald Trump implementing universal steel and aluminum tariffs Wednesday that were also applied to Canada.
America's northern neighbor is the largest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the U.S., and experts have warned Trump's duties were set to be passed through to consumers.
Canada's announcement comes despite a detente having been reached Tuesday with the Trump administration to resolve threats of a 25% surcharge being imposed on American consumers of Canadian electricity. Trump had threatened Canada with steel and aluminum tariffs climbing to 50% if the province of Ontario followed through on the surcharge.
The European Union entered the fray shortly before Canada’s most recent announcement regarding tariffs, imposing surcharges on $28 billion worth of goods. These include beef, motorcycles, whiskey, and metals, according to NBC News.
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On Tuesday, Trump declared that he planned to impose an additional 25 percent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum imports, bringing the total tax up to 50 percent. The move was a response to Ontario’s announcement about levying a surcharge on electricity.
In a post on Truth Social, the president stressed that “Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous.”
Trump further threatened to “substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada” if the nation does not lower other tariffs that have already been in effect.
Hours later, Ontario appeared to back down on its threat. Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, announced in a joint statement with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that after having a meeting, he would halt plans to levy the electricity surcharge.
The two leaders said they “had a productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada” and they plan to have an in-person meeting on Wednesday.
Please see a joint statement from United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and myself:
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) March 11, 2025
Today, United States Secretary of Commerce @howardlutnick and Premier of Ontario Doug Ford had a productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States…
President Trump relented after the announcement but is keeping the initial 25 percent tariff in place for the time being. White House spokesperson Kush Desai told The New York Times on Tuesday that Trump “has once again used the leverage of the American economy, which is the best and biggest in the world, to deliver a win for the American people.”
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