After the failure of trade negotiations with the United States, Canada will impose customs surcharges of 15 to 50% on a series of American products from September 8, the Minister of Finance announced on Tuesday, August 25, detailing Ottawa’s response to the new customs duties on steel and cars announced by Donald Trump.
In order to help the sectors hard hit by this trade war, the Canadian government also revealed the release of a package of 7.5 billion Canadian dollars (4.6 billion euros) intended to support the cash flow of businesses or to strengthen unemployment compensation.
Also readTrade war: Faced with Trump, Canada defends the French language and its sovereignty
The American president, who has stepped up commercial offensives since his return to the White House at the start of 2025, believes that Canada is abusing Washington’s generosity, whether on a commercial or military level. Three days after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney broke off discussions, he announced on Monday the introduction of new surcharges.
From 1er January 2027, “all cars, trucks, large and small, auto parts and steel will see their taxes increase to 50%,” he detailed on his Truth Social network. “Canada has been stripping the United States of America for years,” assured Donald Trump.
The Canadian ministers of Finance, Industry and Labor are due to detail Ottawa’s response to the new American surcharges on Tuesday.
The majority of Canadian steel entering the United States is already taxed at 50%, but Washington had promised a reduction in this rate in the event of a trade truce.
“Unfair proposals”
The Canadian government, however, has been inflexible, accusing the United States of “asking too much and offering too little” and accusing Washington of attacking, through some of its demands, the status of the French language, a politically sensitive subject in this officially bilingual country.
Mark Carney insisted on Monday that his country would not accept a trade agreement with the United States “at any price” or “in any time frame”.
“We discovered that, during the negotiations, the Americans wanted to destroy our major industries, including the automobile, steel and aluminum sectors, with unfair proposals. This is one of the main reasons why we said no,” he detailed.
The Prime Minister of the Canadian province of Ontario, Doug Ford, criticized Donald Trump, telling him in particular to “go fuck himself” and that he should “run over him”.
Donald Trump responded on Truth Social that “someone should put these clowns ‘in their place’ if they don’t want things to get worse for Canada”, the country he proposed to make the 51e State of the United States.
More soberly, American Vice President JD Vance denounced “unreasonable last minute demands” on the Canadian side.
76% of Canadians support breaking off negotiations
Since Saturday 12:01 a.m., Washington has been applying punitive surcharges affecting a total of $20 billion in imported Canadian products, including cement and hockey sticks.
Containers in the port of Montreal, August 23, 2026. © Andrej Ivanov, AFP
Initially scheduled for August 19, these American surcharges were postponed when an agreement seemed close, before Mark Carney ended up breaking off negotiations, promising to respond “to the nearest dollar”.
The United States is, by far, Canada’s largest trading partner, with Canadian exports to this country currently representing around 70% of the total. But in a poll conducted in Canada this weekend, 76% of those questioned said they supported the breakdown of negotiations, and 62% said they were in favor of the retaliation mentioned by the Canadian Prime Minister.
Donald Trump has often sent harsh trade threats before retracting at the last minute.
Any increase in customs duties risks fueling stubborn inflation, which will earn the American leader increasingly pronounced public discontent in the run-up to the mid-term elections, scheduled for early November.
With AFP
