By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday announced that Canada will set aside many retaliatory import tariffs on U.S. products and intensify contacts with Washington on possible avenues to strike a new trade and security relationship.
Canadian tariffs on U.S. autos, steel and aluminum will however remain for now, the Prime Minister said at a press conference in Ottawa.
Carney noted that the United States had recently made clear that it would not impose tariffs on Canadian goods that were in compliance with the three-nation U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement (USMCA). This he described as a positive development.
“In this context and consistent with Canada’s commitment to USMCA, I am announcing today that the Canadian government will now match the United States by removing all of Canada’s tariffs on U.S. goods specifically covered under USMCA,” he said.
“Canada and the U.S. have now re-established free trade for the vast majority of our goods,” he added, reiterating that compared with its trading partners, Canadian exports were still subject overall to a low level of U.S. tariffs.
Canada has been holding talks with the United States on a new economic and security relationship for months but the two sides are yet to reach a deal.
Canada and China are the only nations to strike back at the United States with retaliatory tariffs, angering the President Donald Trump’s administration.
“We welcome this move by Canada, which is long overdue. We look forward to continuing our discussions with Canada on the Administration’s trade and national security concerns,” a White House official said.
Carney spoke to Trump on Thursday. Asked whether the U.S. President had told him that lifting the tariffs would kick start the talks, Carney responded “Yes.”
Carney won an April election on the back of a promise to stand up to Trump’s tariffs but since then has gradually taken a softer tone.
