Canada Slaps Tariffs on $20 Billion Worth of American Products as Trade War Heats Up

The tit-for-tat trade war between the United States and Canada took another turn on Tuesday when America’s neighbors to the north officially smacked tariffs on $20 billion worth of U.S. goods.

American products such as steel, aluminum, cheese, appliances, clothes, cosmetics and farm equipment now face tariffs of 15% to 50%, matching the tariffs put in place on Canadian goods by the United States, according to the Associated Press. The tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m., the AP reported.

The United States sent $333.6 billion worth of goods to Canada last year, and the new tariffs cover about 6% of that.

It’s the latest salvo in the ongoing trade war that began heating up Aug. 21 when negotiations collapsed at the last minute, prompting the United States to tariff Canadian goods at 50%, igniting a battle of words between the two countries and inspiring a raft of meme-warfare from President Donald Trump.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to match American tariffs “dollar-for-dollar,” and has sniffed at Trump’s spate of Truth Social posts, which have run the gamut from bizarre mutant Canada geese armed with machine guns to threatening specific companies such as Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier — which employs about 3,000 Americans

Carney told reporters Sept. 1 that “a positive opportunity … has always existed with the United States for a mutually beneficial trade deal that respects Canadian sovereignty.

“…And when the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions we can have those discussions. Look, it’s not constructive, but that’s their democracy,” he added.

The contentious atmosphere preceded Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America, a change that has fallen flat with most Americans and inspired ridicule from many.

An emboldened Trump, who previously officially changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America despite having no authority to do so, has since floated renaming New Mexico as New America.

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