Canada and the EU swiftly retaliate against Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs - Canada News

UPDATE 12:30 p.m. Major trade partners swiftly hit back at President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, imposing stiff new taxes on U.S products from textiles and water heaters to beef and bourbon.

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Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press - Mar 12, 2025 / 12:28 pm | Story: 538119

Photo: The Canadian Press

President Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 7, 2025.

UPDATE 12:30 p.m.

Major trade partners swiftly hit back at President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, imposing stiff new taxes on U.S products from textiles and water heaters to beef and bourbon.

Canada, the largest steel supplier to the U.S., said Wednesday it will place 25% reciprocal tariffs on steel products and also raise taxes on a host of items: tools, computers and servers, display monitors, sports equipment, and cast-iron products.

Across the Atlantic, the European Union will raise tariffs on American beef, poultry, bourbon and motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans.

Combined, the new tariffs will cost companies billions of dollars, and further escalate the uncertainty in two of the world's major trade partnerships. Companies will either take the losses and earn fewer profits, or, more likely, pass costs along to consumers in the form of higher prices.

Prices will go up, in Europe and the United States, and jobs are at stake, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“We deeply regret this measure. Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers," von der Leyen said.

The EU duties aim for pressure points in the U.S. while minimizing additional damage to Europe. EU officials have made clear that the tariffs — taxes on imports — are aimed at products made in Republican-held states, such as beef and poultry from Kansas and Nebraska and wood products from Alabama and Georgia. The tariffs will also hit blue states such as Illinois, the No. 1 U.S. producer of soybeans, which are also on the list.

Spirits producers have become collateral damage in the dispute over steel and aluminum. The EU move “is deeply disappointing and will severely undercut the successful efforts to rebuild U.S. spirits exports in EU countries,” said Chris Swonger, head of the Distilled Spirits Council. The EU is a major destination for U.S. whiskey, with exports surging 60% in the past three years after an earlier set of tariffs was suspended.

Could there be an agreement that takes increasing tariffs off the table?

Von der Leyen said in a statement that the EU “will always remain open to negotiation.”

Canada’s incoming Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday he’s ready to meet with Trump if he shows “respect for Canadian sovereignty? and is willing to take ”a common approach, a much more comprehensive approach for trade.?

Carney, who will be sworn in in the coming days, said workers in both countries will be better off when “the greatest economic and security partnership in the world is renewed, relaunched. That is possible.”

“We firmly believe that in a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainties, it is not in our common interest to burden our economies with tariffs,” she said.

The American Chamber of Commerce to the EU said the U.S. tariffs and EU countermeasures “will only harm jobs, prosperity and security on both sides of the Atlantic.” “The two sides must de-escalate and find a negotiated outcome urgently,” the chamber said Wednesday.

What will actually happen?

Trump slapped similar tariffs on EU steel and aluminum during his first term in office, which enraged European and other allies. The EU also imposed countermeasures in retaliation at the time, raising tariffs on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans, among other items.

This time, the EU action will involve two steps. First on April 1, the commission will reimpose taxes that were in effect from 2018 and 2020, but which were suspended under the Biden administration. Then on April 13 come the additional duties targeting 18 billion euros ($19.6 billion) in U.S. exports to the bloc.

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šef?ovi? traveled to Washington last month in an effort to head off the tariffs, meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and other top trade officials.

He said on Wednesday that it became clear during the trip “that the EU is not the problem."

“I argued to avoid the unnecessary burden of measures and countermeasures, but you need a partner for that. You need both hands to clap,” Šef?ovi? told reporters at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

Canada is imposing, as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday 25% reciprocal tariffs on steel products worth $12.6 billion Canadian (US$8.7 billion) and aluminum products worth $3 billion Canadian (US$2 billion) as well as additional imported U.S. goods worth $14.2 billion Canadian ($9.9 billion) for a total of $29.8 billion (US$20.6 billion.)

The list of additional products affected by counter-tariffs includes tools, computers and servers, display monitors, water heaters, sport equipment, and cast-iron products.

These tariffs are in addition to Canada’s 25% counter tariffs on $30 billion Canadian (US$20.8 billion) of imports from the U.S. that were put in place on March 4 in response to other Trump tariffs that he’s delayed by a month.

European steel companies brace for losses

The EU could lose up to 3.7 million tons of steel exports, according to the European steel association Eurofer. The U.S. is the second-biggest export market for EU steel producers, representing 16% of the total EU steel exports.

The EU estimates that annual trade volume between both sides stands at about $1.5 trillion, representing around 30% of global trade. While the bloc has a substantial export surplus in goods, it says that is partly offset by the U.S. surplus in the trade of services.

UPDATE 7:12 a.m.

The federal government will impose 25 per cent tariffs on U.S. goods worth $29.8 billion in retaliation for the 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump imposed today.

The dollar-for-dollar tariffs will take effect at 12:01 ET Thursday.

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc says the tariffs are in addition to 25 per cent tariffs Canada imposed on $30 billion in imports from the United States earlier this month.

LeBlanc says the new levies target $12.6 billion in steel products and $3 billion in aluminum products.

The counter-tariffs will also apply to other products, including computers, sports equipment and cast iron goods.

LeBlanc says the U.S. is "inserting disruption and disorder" into a successful trading partnership and is increasing the cost of everyday goods for both Canadians and Americans.

ORIGINAL 6:52 a.m.

The federal government is scheduled to unveil its response to U.S. President Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum at 9:45 a.m. ET.

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne will outline Canada's response at a news conference on Parliament Hill.

The latest move in Trump's plan to realign global trade came into force today as all countries, including Canada, were hit with 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the United States.

The president's executive order went into place at 12:01 a.m. ET. It removes the exceptions and exemptions from Trump's 2018 tariffs on steel and aluminum, which eventually excluded Canada and other countries from the duties.

The latest levies came into force hours after the White House confirmed Trump would not follow through on Tuesday threats to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum after Ontario agreed to pause a surcharge on electricity exports to the U.S.

LeBlanc is scheduled to travel to Washington Thursday with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Lutnick and Ford spoke by phone Tuesday. Ford removed a 25 per cent surcharge on electricity exports to three U.S. states in return for the lowered duties on steel and aluminum.

Trump offered praise for Ford, calling him a "strong man" and a "gentleman."

Prime minister-designate Mark Carney said in a post on social media Tuesday that while Canada "can’t control President Trump, we can control how we respond — by supporting our workers and building a stronger, more resilient economy for our future."

Markets have been in a tailspin since Trump began to put in place his massive tariff agenda.

Last Thursday, Trump signed an executive order delaying until April tariffs on goods that meet the rules-of-origin requirements under CUSMA.

The White House has said steel and aluminum tariffs will stack on top of any other duties that Trump introduces in April.

About a quarter of all steel used in the United States is imported and Canada is the largest supplier. Canada is also the United States' largest source of aluminum.

In Selkirk, where the Gerdau Ameristeel mill is a major employer for the Manitoba city with a population around 10,500, Mayor Larry Johannson said a lot of product goes through the United States.

"To be that dependent on a country, and then to have them be able to hold this over our heads, I think we have to look at the way we're doing business and we may have to do it a little differently," Johannson said.

The Manitoba mill provides specialty steel and rebar for products, such as elevators, and it is used in buildings as far away as Dubai. Johannson said he's confident the mill can survive, adding there were no layoffs when tariffs were imposed during the first Trump administration.

Economists have said Trump's 2018 tariffs on steel and aluminum were costly for American companies and consumers.

A report by the Washington-based Tax Foundation said companies were forced to pay higher prices, U.S. exports dropped and the duties resulted in the loss of about 75,000 manufacturing jobs.

There were also layoffs in Canada.

"Steel and aluminum are about strength; these tariffs do nothing but weaken us both. President Trump may as well hand over North America’s steel and aluminum leadership to China," Canadian Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Candace Laing said in a statement Tuesday.

"Instead of adding taxes on taxes and more uncertainty to the mix, we must move away from tariffs and toward a lasting agreement on trade that is respected on all sides."

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