Canada’s federal government in Ottawa has identified $150 billion ($105 billion U.S.) of American manufactured goods that it will hit with trade tariffs if president-elect Donald Trump makes good on his threat to levy tariffs of 25% on Canadian products.
The list is a draft and would be used only if the Trump administration moves first on its threat of a trade war with Canada.
While the products on that initial list weren’t disclosed, they are likely to be similar to the tariffs Canada enacted in 2018 after Trump placed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
During that previous trade skirmish, Canada placed tariffs on a variety of U.S.-manufactured items ranging from whiskey to washing machines.
The earlier tariffs from Canada were aimed at putting pressure on factories in the constituencies of Republican politicians.
However, the 2018 tariffs were much smaller in scope, impacting about $16 billion of U.S. imports to Canada.
In 2024, Canada imported $487 billion worth of American goods, so the retaliatory tariffs would cover nearly a third of the value of the products the country gets from the U.S.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers of Canada’s provinces met in Ottawa this week to plot a strategy for dealing with U.S. protectionism.
Despite escalating tensions between the neighboring countries, Trudeau has tried to remain positive and has repeatedly said that Canada and the U.S. have opportunities to build “partnerships” on energy and critical minerals.
