Trade War Heats Up After Trump Orders Tariffs and Canada Retaliates
The United States and its biggest trading partners were hurtling on Sunday into a new era of protectionism as Canada, Mexico and China said they would adopt countermeasures against new tariffs levied by President Trump.
From honey to tomatoes, and from clothes to toilet bowls, a wide range of American goods that cross the border into Canada, worth more than $100 billion, will soon be hit with a 25 percent tariff.
“We don’t want to be here,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a somber televised address from Ottawa on Saturday night in which he spoke of the deep bonds between the neighbors. “We didn’t ask for this.”
On Sunday, China said it would “take corresponding countermeasures to firmly safeguard its rights and interests.” It also said it would take legal action at the World Trade Organization.
And in a video released on Sunday, President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said that she would unveil the first steps of her government’s so-called Plan B plan on Monday if an agreement with the United States could not be reached. Ms. Sheinbaum earlier warned of retaliatory “tariff and nontariff measures.”
The policy announced by Mr. Trump on Saturday hit Canada and Mexico with tariffs of 25 percent on all goods, with a carve-out for Canadian energy and oil exports. Those are to be taxed at 10 percent. He also placed a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods.