The Trump administration plans to reimpose tariffs on some Canadian aluminum imports, hitting a crucial trade partner just weeks after the president’s landmark North American trade agreement went into effect. Canada threatened retaliation.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he’s removing Canada’s exemption from 10 per cent tariffs, effective Aug. 16. The decision comes more than a month after U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressed concern about recent struggles by American aluminum producers, who have said they are hurting from a “surge” of metal from Canada flowing into the United States.
“Several months ago, my administration agreed to lift those tariffs in return for a promise from the Canadian government that its aluminum industry would not flood our country with exports and kill all our aluminum jobs, which is exactly what they did,” Trump said during a speech at a Whirlpool Corp. factory in Ohio. “Canadian aluminum producers have broken that commitment.”
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“In response to the American tariffs, Canada intends to swiftly impose dollar-for-dollar countermeasures,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement, calling the U.S tariffs “unwarranted and unacceptable.”
