Trump Imposes New 50% Tariff on Many Imports from Canada
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump took executive action to impose 50% tariffs on a wide range of imports from Canada in retaliation to what his administration called “discriminatory” Canadian trade practices in certain sectors against the United States, according to administration officials.
The move, which risks reigniting a trade war between Canada and the U.S., comes after Trump threatened tariffs against the country in response to smoke that entered the U.S. from raging wildfires in Canada. But an administration official said Trump is exploring different tariffs for the wildfire response.
The sweeping tariffs, which go into effect in 30 days, apply to a range of Canadian imports ‒ from wine to hockey sticks to cement, an official said ‒ but do not apply to energy, potash, fish and critical minerals, among other goods.
Trump administration officials, who discussed the move with reporters, cited Canadian trade practices on alcohol, automobiles and dairy exported from the U.S. for prompting the new tariff.
All but two Canadian provinces have halted the purchase of alcohol from the U.S. but not other countries. Canada has imposed tariffs on automobiles from the U.S. but not other countries. And Canada has established tariff-rate quotas on cheese from the U.S. that are more restrictive than its policy with the European Union, an official said.
Trump signed three proclamations formalizing the tariffs, which were made by invoking the Tariff Act of 1930, often referred to as the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. The century-old law is different from the statute Trump cited to use presidential emergency powers to impose tariffs on countries ‒ a tariff strategy the Supreme Court blocked in February.
This is a developing story.
Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
