Canada enacts counter-tariffs on $20 billion of U.S. goods
Ottawa’s 15–50% levies on $20 billion of U.S. exports follow failed negotiations and U.S. 50% duties on Canadian products.
On 8 September 2026 Canada activated retaliatory tariffs on a wide range of U.S. goods, marking a sharp turn in a trade dispute between the two neighbors. The additional duties, set between 15 and 50 percent, target American products with a combined value of $20 billion (17.2 billion euros), including steel, aluminium and dairy items.
Escalation after failed talks
The move follows a period of rising tensions that accelerated in August, when U.S. authorities imposed 50 percent tariffs on several Canadian products. Those U.S. duties covered items such as alcoholic drinks, dairy products, hockey sticks and plywood. In response, Canada’s leadership announced measures to hit back with its own tariffs.
In addition to industrial metals and foodstuffs, some seafood items that had been on the initial list were later removed before the countermeasures took effect.
U.S. President Donald Trump publicly threatened to block sales of planes made by the Canadian manufacturer Bombardier on the American market and urged the company to shift production into the United States. "If they want our market, they must produce here," Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social.
Bombardier said its operations support tens of thousands of jobs in the United States and that it spends more than $2.5 billion each year with suppliers in the country.
The reciprocal duties underline how quickly a bilateral dispute can broaden into tariffs touching many sectors on both sides of the border, with implications for manufacturers, farmers and exporters in Canada and the United States.
Photo: press material from the event
