Canada Fights Back Against US Tariffs

OTTAWA, March 5 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- The Trump administration's decision to impose tariffs on imports from Canada has prompted a tough response.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday that his country will not back down from a fight against the tariffs, reported Xinhua.

He told a press conference that there is no justification for the trade war the two countries are entangled in and Canada will challenge the US administration's moves.

The Canadian government hit back with initial tariffs on C$30 billion (about US$21 billion) worth of US goods, with the promise to add another C$125 billion (about US$87 billion) in 21 days.

According to a press release from the Canadian finance ministry, the first phase of response includes tariffs on US products such as orange juice, peanut butter and wine, among others. The countermeasure will take effect at 00:01 am local time (0501 GMT) on Tuesday.

The additional countermeasures would be tariffs on a list of goods such as electric vehicles, fruits and vegetables, among others. The additional tariffs will be open for a 21-day comment, the release said.

The government is also taking steps to mitigate the impact of these countermeasures on Canadian workers and businesses by establishing a remission process to evaluate requests for exceptional relief from the tariffs, it said.

All options remain on the table as the government considers additional measures, including non-tariff options, it added.

Canada would also challenge the US tariffs by filing dispute resolution claims at the World Trade Organisation and through the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, said Trudeau.

"But in the meantime, our tariffs will remain in place until the US tariffs are withdrawn and not a moment sooner," he said, adding that the federal government is in active discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures.

Canadian provinces have also hit back. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced that Ontario is prepared to add a 25-per cent surcharge to the electricity Ontario exports to US states if US tariffs remain in place.

"If we have to, we won't hesitate to increase the charge or shut the electricity off completely," Ford said on his social media account.

Ford also threatened to cut off exports of Ontario nickel during an interview with NBC News on Monday afternoon.

The British Columbia government responded to the US tariffs by joining other provinces in removing some liquor products from store shelves.

"This is a deliberate decision to target red (Republican-controlled) state liquor products," Premier David Eby said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Before the countermeasures, Canadian officials made a fruitless month-long diplomatic push to avoid tariffs and have responded to the current US administration's concerns about the border by naming a new "fentanyl czar" and listing Mexican cartels as terrorist groups.

Canada has done the work at the border to make sure that the Americans would be happy, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told local media.

On February 1, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose a 25-per cent tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada, with a 10-per cent tariff increase specifically for Canadian energy products. On February 3, Trump announced that the additional tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada would be deferred for one month.

Trump said Monday that tariffs on Mexico and Canada would take effect on Tuesday, March 4. 

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA