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ARTICLE · 24 JANUARY 2025

Retaliatory Tariffs - A Bad Idea?

Millar Kreklewetz
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The trade relationship between the United States ("US") and Canada is facing renewed tensions as President Trump has reaffirmed...

CanadaInternational Law
Robert Kreklewetz
Robert Kreklewetz
David West
David West

The trade relationship between the United States ("US") and Canada is facing renewed tensions as President Trump has reaffirmed that the US will impose a blanket 25 percent tariff on all Canadian goods, and is aiming to do this as soon as February 1, 2025.

In response, Canadian government officials have signaled Canada will respond with retaliatory tariffs and other possible countermeasures such as export taxes. Consequently, it is important to understand how retaliatory import tariffs and export taxes have worked in the past, and how they might work in the future.

Import Tariffs – Echoes from 2018-2019

During the trade dispute of 2018-2019, the Trump Administration targeted Canadian steel and aluminum imports with tariffs through an executive order under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

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