US President Donald Trump is threatening to impose new tariffs on Canadian vehicles, trucks, automotive parts and steel, on 1 January for a 50 percent tariff on Canadian cars.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised ‘dollar for dollar’ retaliatory measures from 8 September, including levies on steel, dairy, appliances and electronics.
‘Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years,’ Trump posted on Truth Social, saying the new 50 percent levy would hit cars, trucks, automotive parts and steel from January 1.
‘Canada will be treated like a state no longer,’ Trump added. ‘They feel entitled, and yet, we don’t need Canada, they need us.’
Trump accused America’s neighbor of putting ‘ridiculously high tariffs’ on US farmers, saying they had made life ‘impossible for these great American Patriots.’
Trade talks collapsed last week and tariffs on roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods took effect Saturday, hitting products including agricultural supplies, dairy, alcohol, clothing and electronics.
Carney vowed Saturday to ‘hit back,’ accusing Washington of adding language in the final hours that would have restricted Canada’s ability to make trade deals with other countries.
The Canadian prime minister said in an address to the nation that Trump’s demand was ‘unacceptable’ and ‘a question of sovereignty.’
‘You’re at war when you’re attacked, and we got attacked,’ Carney said.
