Canada ready to respond if Trump’s new tariffs go into affect: Carney

Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Canada is intensifying negotiations with the United States to reach a comprehensive trade deal but is prepared to respond should President Donald Trump’s threat of 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods comes into effect.

The new tariffs, announced by Trump on Monday, are scheduled to come into effect Aug 19. “If these tariffs, or other measures, come into force, there’s a full range of things that we can do in that regard,” Carney said after meeting with Canada’s premiers and territorial leaders in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Carney said “everything’s on the table” if an agreement can’t be reached before the tariffs kick in. “We don’t need to respond in advance,” he said. “In fact, I think it would be counterproductive at this stage to respond in advance.” The new tariffs cover a wide range of goods, including honey, liquor, cement, dairy products, some wood products, hockey sticks and other items. They exclude energy products, potash, fish and critical minerals, but would include goods previously protected from import taxes by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.

That 2020 trade pact was not renewed by the US, triggering a new set of negotiations that could run until 2036.