Canada Targets U.S. Metals, Foods, Motorcycles in Retaliatory Tariff Package -- WSJ

By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA-Canada said Tuesday it intends to impose tariffs of up to 50% on roughly 700 products as the acrimony between Ottawa and Washington escalates following the collapse of trade talks.

Officials said that effective Sept. 8, or the day after Labor Day, Canada plans to place tariffs ranging between 15% and 50% on about $20 billion of goods, or roughly 7% of total U.S. imports. Among the products targeted by Canada are U.S. steel, aluminum, motorcycles, washers and dryers, chain saws, processed cheese, clams and frozen octopus.

U.S. steel and aluminum were already subject to a 25% tariff, but that will now double to 50%, officials said.

Canadian officials said its set of retaliatory duties are designed to protect domestic market share for firms directly impacted by U.S. tariffs. Some trade analysts and economists added the tariffs are also likely to target firms in Republican-held congressional districts.

Canadian officials also unveiled measures such as loans and income supplements for affected firms and workers valued at 7.5 billion Canadian dollars, equivalent to US$5.4 billion.

Canada's pending duties are in response to the Trump administration's new 50% tariff on about $20 billion Canadian imports, which took effect on Saturday after weeks of trade talks broke down at the 11th hour despite optimism the two sides were inching toward a deal.

Both the U.S. and Canada argue their counterpart demanded last-minute changes to the deal that were deemed unacceptable. The U.S. imposed this new tariff, it said, because of alleged Canadian mistreatment of U.S. automobiles, wines and spirits, and dairy products.

Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at global-payments firm Corpay, said the Canada retaliation might backfire. "An intensified trade war will hurt the country more than the U.S.," Schamotta said. "Countertariffs will not help. In Canada, just as in the U.S., they are effectively taxes on domestic consumption. They raise the cost of living while doing little to shift trade balances or improve overall economic welfare."

U.S. and Canadian officials have traded barbs in the days following the breakdown of trade talks. The latest from President Trump emerged early Tuesday, when he threatened to rename one of Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes, to Lake America. "I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable," Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said this week it became evident during negotiations that Trump was intent on destroying Canada's auto sector, and steel and aluminum industries. He said Canada could restart talks with Washington, but only on the condition that the U.S. comes "with the right attitude toward our industries."

He added, "An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States, the Canadian industry is going to be disadvantaged relative to American industry...That's not something we're going to accept."

Write to Paul Vieira at Paul.Vieira@wsj.com

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August 25, 2026 11:01 ET (15:01 GMT)