News
26/09/09
Trump's Canada trade war hits familiar snags
Washington, 9 September (Argus) — President Donald Trump's administration has
dropped punitive tariffs on imported Canadian cement, toilet paper and other
products after acknowledging negative impacts on US consumers. But Trump's
administration doubled down on confrontation with Ottawa, introducing an
outright ban on imports of Canadian alcohol and motorcycles. Trump's conflicts
with US foreign trade partners have frequently featured revisions to the lists
of affected products after complaints from US consumers and industrial groups.
Trump's punitive tariffs on Canada and Ottawa's countermeasures do not apply to
energy, potash fertilizer or critical minerals. The US on 22 August began
collecting new 50pc tariffs on about $28bn of Canadian imports, including
cement, plywood and paper. Trump late on Tuesday ordered modifications to the
list of affected products, eliminating the 50pc tariff on Canadian cement, rock
salt and toilet paper beginning on 15 September. Trump instead ordered a 50pc
tariff on a variety of other Canadian imports, including iron and steel columns
and some aluminum byproducts, effective from 15 September. The prohibition on
imports of Canadian alcoholic beverages and Canada-manufactured motorcycles will
go into effect from 29 September. "Canada walked away from a near-final trade
deal that offered better treatment than any other trading partner, and instead
Canada chose to embark on senseless retaliation," US trade representative
Jamieson Greer said. Canada's retaliatory tariffs on US steel and aluminum went
into effect on Tuesday. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has said that trade
talks between the two countries collapsed because the US had made unreasonable
demands. "They wanted us to become even more reliant on them, not less," he said
on Tuesday. Carney said last week he would be ready to resume trade dialogue
once the US "starts being serious". The latest trade escalation is taking place
as Trump is set to convene an unusual, mid-term Republican party convention in
Dallas, Texas, in a bid to shore up his party's fortunes ahead of the 3 November
midterm elections. The event, which Republican party officials describe as a
"Trump-a-palooza", aims to highlight Trump's economic and geopolitical
accomplishments since returning to office last year. "This election comes down
to one simple choice: lower costs, lower taxes, secure borders, and common
sense," Republican National Committee chairman Joe Gruters said on 5 September.
Less than two months before the elections, polls indicate that Democrats are
likely to wrest control of at least one chamber, if not both, in part because of
voters' concerns over rising inflation. The US inflation rate earlier this
summer reached three-year highs, largely because Trump's war with Iran pushed up
US retail fuel prices. US retail gasoline prices averaged $4.16/USG in the week
ended on 7 September, up by around 40pc from late February, when the US and
Isreal launched an attack on Iran. Higher tariffs have also contributed to an
increase in US consumer prices. Higher inflation has undermined Trump's
rationale for calling on the US Federal Reserve to slash its target interest
rate. Trump last week threatened to introduce import bans on key US trade
partners, including Canada and the EU, unless the Fed cuts interest rates. The
US Supreme Court in February ruled that Trump's 2025 decisions to arbitrarily
impose tariffs on any country had been illegal. But that ruling also pointed out
that Congress explicitly gave the White House the legal power to impose an
outright embargo on trade with any country. Trump since then has frequently
touted that newly discovered prerogative, even though he has denounced the
Supreme Court's tariff decision. The import ban on select Canadian products
would mark the first exercise of that prerogative. By Haik Gugarats Send
comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright ©
2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
