Ottawa responds to new U.S. tariffs on Canadian lumber, dairy

Ottawa’s response to new tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy include a $6 billion aid package to support Canadian businesses affected by the trade war.

For some people, it has become increasingly hard to know exactly what is happening around what tariffs are being threatened and implemented.

U.S. President Donald Trump has walked back on previous threats, maintaining others, and introduced new ones which put businesses, consumers and politicians in a whirlwind of uncertainty.

In the Oval Office Friday, Trump took aim at Canada’s dairy sector, threatening a 250 per cent reciprocal tariff on Canadian dairy imports.

It follows after he announced a one-month pause on some tariffs on Canadian and Mexican Goods.

Trump said, “a 250 per cent tariff – which is taking advantage of our farmers, which is not going to happen anymore – they’re gonna be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it. That’s what reciprocal means, it’s not fair, it never has been fair, they’ve treated our farmers badly – look, our country has been ripped off by everybody – that stops now.”

Trump also mentioned planned tariffs on Canadian lumber, and said to expect more changes and adjustments on tariffs in the future.

These new threats come after Trump put a pause on tariffs on Canadian items, covered by the USMCA Free Trade Treaty.

However, he says 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the states will still go into place next week.

Steven Mackinnon, Minister of Employment, said “the U.S. administrations repeated contradictions have brought more questions than answers. Questions about possible job effects, the effect of tariffs on those jobs and employers, the uncertainty of paychecks and whether Canadians will still have work in a weeks time, much less a month.”

On Friday, the federal government announced support for businesses through the trade war.

Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, announced a new trade impact program through Export Development Canada, saying “that is a $5 billion additional facility to help Canadian businesses tackle the challenges imposed on them by these U.S. tariffs.”

Ng says the government is also making $500 million available for business loans and another $1 billion for loans specifically for the agricultural sector.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders spoke about Trump’s tariffs when they discussed plans about how their governments would respond.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said, “my message to President Trump is you got two options: one, you can attack our economy and we will fight back – your consumers will pay more, your workers will make less – both our economies will weaken, leaving less money for border security and defence on both sides of the border, and our enemies will grow stronger; or you can knock it off and get back to the best trading relationship the world has ever seen.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said, “We are up against a really serious threat: we have Donald Trump acting like a toddler smashing his toys, and instead of toys, it’s our economy, our workers, and our worker’s lives.”

“People right now are living with a constant threat of Donald Trump and Canadians are pissed off – they’re angry and they want to fight back, Canadians are showing defiance, showing resilience, and so we expect the same of elected officials,” he further said.

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