Canada has announced its counterattack to the latest tariffs imposed by the United States.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Canada will match the new tariffs dollar for dollar, rate for rate, with additional Canadian tariffs on American goods.
And Champagne made it clear the Liberal government isn’t messing around.
“We will support our workers, our businesses and our industry with whatever it takes, for as long as it takes,” the minister said.
It’s all in response to President Donald Trump’s order to impose 50 per cent tariff on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods effective Aug. 22.
Effective Sept. 8, Canada will impose counter tariffs of 15, 25 and 50 per cent on products drawn from those targeted by U.S. Section 338 and Section 232 tariffs.
The rate for each product will match the corresponding U.S. rate.
The counter tariffs will apply to products covering $27.6 billion in imports from the U.S., focusing on sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics.
The government said these sectors are most affected by U.S. tariffs.
According to the federal government, goods subject to 50-per-cent counter tariffs include steel and aluminum products that were previously subject to a 25-per-cent counter tariff.
Furniture and clothing will also be subject to the 50-per-cent rate.
Goods subject to 25-per-cent tariffs include appliances, dairy products, such as cheese, fish and seafood, and certain steel and aluminum derivative products.
Other existing counter-tariffs against the U.S., including autos, remain in place and Canada’s tariff remission framework also remains available to assess requests for exceptional relief.
Additional support for Canadian workers and businesses affected by tariffs was also announced.
A $7.5-billion package will be introduced to bring new measures to assist workers and businesses.
That’s on top of the nearly $25 billion the federal government has provided since the United States implemented tariffs on Canada.
This package includes:
- An additional $1.5-billion investment through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative, delivered by Canada’s regional development agencies, to help small and medium-sized enterprises, including liquidity supports to manage the pressures related to tariffs.
- A new $500-million liquidity stream under the Business Development Bank of Canada’s Pivot to Grow program to help businesses manage immediate cash-flow pressures in addition to targeted programs for the forestry, steel and aluminum sectors.
- Broadened access to the Business Development Bank of Canada’s tariff-related programs by lowering the minimum revenue requirement for applicants to $1 million.
- An additional $2-billion investment through the new Canada Strong Diversification Fund, to support tariff-affected businesses with shovel-ready projects that support ongoing capital maintenance. This new initiative will work closely with RDA programming for project intake and triage.
- A new suite of $3.5-billion Rapid Response Supports for Workers and Employers to help Canadians affected by tariffs. This will help workers access income support when they need it through extended and additional EI temporary flexibilities; and support their transition into new opportunities through new investments in training delivered in the workplace and enhancements to JobBank.gc.ca. This will also help employers keep their workforce through a difficult period with the help of the new Worker Retention and Retraining Program.
- New flexibilities to the Large Enterprise Tariff Loan facility, administered by the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation.
