Canada officially imposes retaliatory tariffs on US products

Istanbul (ANTARA) - The trade war between Canada and the United States has escalated after the Canadian government officially imposed retaliatory tariffs on US products worth 27.6 billion Canadian dollars (Rp352.2 trillion).

The retaliatory measures, which took effect on Tuesday at 00:01 local time (11:01 WIB), are “dollar for dollar” equivalent to the tariffs under Section 338 of the US Tariff Act of 1930.

Ottawa set tariffs of 15, 25 and 50 percent on imports of US-origin products, covering key commodities from the steel, dairy, equipment, agricultural machinery, pulp and paper, and electronics industries.

Canada stressed that the retaliatory tariffs apply only to products originating from the United States and will not be imposed on goods already in transit on the day the tariffs came into force.

The escalation followed the failure of bilateral dialogue in late August, which led US President Donald Trump to impose a 50 percent tariff on products imported from Canada.

The US measures targeted steel, aluminium, timber and automotive components under Section 338 of the Tariff Act, which authorises the US President to impose countermeasures against trade barriers.

The trade dispute between the US and Canada has grown increasingly acrimonious under the Trump administration, which has imposed a series of import tariffs and retaliatory trade measures.

Trump has repeatedly criticised the trade imbalance between the US and Canada, citing it as the main reason for imposing tariffs on its neighbour. He has also repeatedly accused Ottawa of “cheating” the United States.

Source: Anadolu