U.S. President Donald Trump is moving to impose a new 50 per cent import duty on dozens of Canadian goods.
Unlike the tariffs early in his second term, this new round of levies is leaning on a never before used section of a Great Depression-era law.
Section 338 of the U.S. Tariff Act gives the president the power to impose a maximum tariff of 50 per cent on imports from countries that are deemed to discriminate against U.S. industry.
A senior U.S. official who briefed reporters about the new import duties said Section 338 has not been used for this purpose before.
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The White House is characterizing these new measures as a response to Canada’s retaliation against U.S. trade policy and its discrimination against three U.S. sectors: motor vehicles, alcohol and dairy.
Washington ostensibly chose the first two sectors to retaliate against a number of Canadian provinces refusing to sell American alcohol in government-owned liquor stores and for Canada slapping its own retaliatory tariffs on some American autos.
Trump hits Canada with new 50 per cent tariffs
Dairy was chosen over ongoing issues regarding how Canada issues import quotas for U.S. products. Canada exports minimal amounts of dairy products to the U.S.
A Canadian government source estimates that the total goods impacted by these tariffs would be valued at approximately $28 billion.
Some of the Canadian goods targeted generally correspond with the dairy and alcohol grievances the U.S. is raising. But a swath of tariffed goods, mostly listed under the auto grievance, are seemingly unrelated — and some appear to be largely symbolic, such as hockey sticks.
Unlike tariffs Trump has previously levied, these new tariffs won’t exempt goods compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
The levies are slated to come into force on Aug. 19. Here is a full list of Canadian goods Trump is targeting.
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