Canada will impose matching 25 percent tariffs on vehicles imported from the United States, Carney announced.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will impose matching 25 percent tariffs on vehicles imported from the United States, in response to U.S. auto tariffs kicking in on April 3.
Carney made the announcement on April 3, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his “reciprocal” tariffs plan for the world. Canada was left out of this regime as it’s already impacted by U.S. tariffs related to Trump’s border security and drug trafficking concerns, with exemptions applied to products covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Canada is also subject to 25 percent tariffs Trump had previously announced on all steel and aluminum imports.
“While it’s progress that further tariffs were not imposed on Canada yesterday, the president’s actions will reverberate here in Canada and across the world,” Carney said, adding that all sets of tariffs imposed under various premises are “unjustified, unwarranted, and in our judgment, misguided.”
Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will target vehicles imported from the United States that are not compliant with the USCMA free trade deal, as well as the non-Canadian content of USMCA-compliant vehicles.
The difference with the U.S. tariffs is that Canadian measures will not apply to auto parts nor vehicle content from Mexico, Carney said during a press conference in Ottawa. He added that the federal government is developing a framework for car manufacturers in Canada to get relief from funds collected from Canada’s counter-tariffs if they maintain their production and investments in the country.
Carney said the counter-tariffs are expected to collect approximately $8 billion in revenue, which will be distributed to impacted workers and companies.
“We take these measures reluctantly, and we take them in ways that it’s intended and will cause maximum impact in the United States and minimum impact here in Canada,” Carney said.
Canada had already responded to other sets of U.S. tariffs by targeting nearly $60 billion worth of U.S. goods with levies, and Carney said these measures remain in place.
The prime minister said he had told Trump during their call on March 28 that Canada would respond to the auto tariffs. Trump has imposed tariffs in a bid to bring back car manufacturing jobs to the United States and shore up the country’s industrial base.
By Noé Chartier
