Canada’s Tariffs Targets Key US States: Report

Canada has responded to President Trump’s 50% tariffs on a $20 billion basket of Canadian goods by imposing its own tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of U.S.-made goods.

In the latest salvo in the escalating trade war between North America’s neighboring countries, Canadian officials said that they would start collecting tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on more than 800 U.S.-made goods starting on Sept. 8. That’s in response to the 50% tariffs on a $20 billion basket of Canadian goods being imposed by the Trump administration, with the heaviest impact falling on steel and aluminum industries.

Helping drive Canada’s response is a desire to put political pressure on President Trump and his Republican party in the upcoming midterm elections, The Fiscal Times reports, based on media interviews by a top Canadian trade official.

“We are picking products that will target states in the U.S.,” Melanie Joly, Canada’s industry minister, told CBS News. “We’re being wise and strategic to put political pressure, and that’s why we think it’s ‌the right thing to do right now.”

Joly also called on her fellow countrymen to buy Canadian goods, to protect jobs while launching a “movement of resistance” against Trump’s aggressive acts.

In the United States, the Canadian tariffs will hurt automakers in Michigan, dairy farmers in Wisconsin and lobstermen in Maine – all states that have close political races this fall.

“This is a game of cards,” Joly told The New York Times. “We know we have a lot of good cards in our hand. And we know not to use them right at the start.”