CANADA is hitting back at the imposition of US trade tariffs with retaliatory measures of its own, with Ottawa declaring: “We will not escalate and we will not back down.”
CANADA has struck back at the Trump administration over US steel and aluminium tariffs, vowing to impose punitive measures on $C16.6 billion ($A17 billion) worth of American goods until Washington relents. |
| Chrystia Freeland, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, meets with steel industry employees in Hamilton, Ontario, on Friday. |
The announcement by Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland marks a new low in ties between the neighbours and trading partners which have become increasingly strained since US President Donald Trump took power in January 2017.
The Canadian tariffs will come into effect on July 1 and largely target US steel and aluminium products, but also foodstuffs such as coffee, ketchup and whiskies, according to a list by the Department of Finance.
“We will not escalate and we will not back down,” Freeland told reporters on Friday at a Stelco Holdings plant in the Ontario steel city of Hamilton. Officials say the measures are designed in part to pressure Trump by focusing on goods from states where his political allies hold sway.
“We are acting very much in sorrow, not in anger,” said Freeland, stressing the closeness of the overall relationship. Bilateral trade is worth around $C2 billion a day.
Freeland said she had already spoken to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer six times this week and was prepared to meet at any time to tackle the issue.
Ottawa also unveiled an aid package for affected industries and workers worth up to $C2 billion, consisting mainly of up to $C1.7 billion in commercial financing and insurance for firms in the steel and aluminium sectors and related industries.
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| US President Donald Trump talks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau |
The Trump administration is studying whether to put tariffs on Canadian cars, which economists say would help plunge the economy into a recession. Freeland called the idea “absolutely absurd”.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who usually attends celebrations in Ottawa on July 1 to mark the Canada Day holiday, will instead spend part of the weekend with families of steel workers in the western province of Saskatchewan, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said on Twitter.
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said earlier this month the tariffs were designed in part to stop cheap steel entering the US via Canada and other countries.
Ottawa would take measures to stop the dumping of steel in the coming weeks once it had finished consulting stakeholders, said Canadian Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains, appearing at the same event as Freeland.
In Washington, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said the tariffs would hit $US170 million ($A230 million) worth of US beef products. “We believe that co-operation is a better path forward than escalation,” said Kent Bacus, the association’s director of international trade and market access.