US President Donald Trump on Thursday moved to reimpose 10 percent tariffs on some Canadian aluminum products to protect US industry from a “surge” in imports, angering Ottawa and some US business groups.
Canada pledged retaliation as tensions heightened between the close allies just weeks after a new continental trade deal between the US, Mexico and Canada came into effect.
During a speech at a Whirlpool Corp washing machine factory in Ohio to tout his “America First” trade agenda, Trump said he signed a proclamation reimposing the “Section 232” national security tariffs.
Photo: Reuters
The step was “absolutely necessary to defend our aluminum industry,” he said.
Ohio is a critical swing state that Trump won in 2016. Polling shows a tight race with former US vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, in the state ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election. Trump trails Biden in national polls and is competing with him for blue-collar working class voters.
The tariff announcement could be aimed at showing those voters he intends to fight for their jobs and upend trade policy further if he remains in office.
However, some prominent business groups criticized the move as counterproductive and unhelpful to US interests.
The Office of the US Trade Representative said the 10 percent tariffs apply to raw, unalloyed aluminum produced at smelters. The tariffs do not apply to downstream aluminum products.
“Several months ago, my administration agreed to lift those tariffs in return for a promise from the Canadian government that its aluminum industry would not flood our country with exports and kill all our aluminum jobs, which is exactly what they’ve done,” Trump said. “Canadian aluminum producers have broken their commitment.”
Canada has a natural advantage in primary aluminum production because of its ample supply of hydroelectric power.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the tariffs would hurt workers and regional economies already hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and pledged Ottawa would retaliate as it had done in 2018, when Trump first imposed punitive measures on Canadian steel and aluminum.
“In response to the American tariffs, Canada intends to swiftly impose dollar-for-dollar countermeasures,” Freeland said in a statement.
Freeland, in charge of overall relations with Washington, would formally respond to the tariffs at 11am yesterday, her office said in a statement.
Rio Tinto, Canada’s largest aluminum producer, said the tariffs are “unfortunate” as they only increase prices for US consumers and undermine market confidence in secure supplies of aluminium in North America.
In 2018, Canada slapped tariffs on C$16.6 billion (US$12.44 billion) of US goods ranging from bourbon to ketchup. Trump lifted the sanctions last year.
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