Canada’s retaliatory US tariffs set to take effect as trade dispute grows

Tensions between Canada and the US have intensified in recent weeks. Photograph: Ari Saperstein/EPAView image in fullscreenTensions between Canada and the US have intensified in recent weeks.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleCanada is set to impose retaliatory tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of American imports early on Tuesday, escalating a trade fight with its largest trading partner as tensions between US president Donald Trump and Canadian prime minister Mark Carney intensify.

Tensions between Canada and the US have intensified in recent weeks, with Carney last week urging the Trump administration to “start being serious” as the trade dispute has increasingly spilled into broader diplomatic tensions.

Trump e altos funcionários dos EUA criticaram repetidamente o Canadá e sua liderança, enquanto Trump fez uma série de ataques simbólicos ao Canadá, incluindo a assinatura de uma ordem executiva que renomeia o Lago Ontário como “Lago América” – algo que os canadenses rejeitaram.

US vice-president JD Vance has also reportedly mocked Carney, apparently saying the Canadian prime minister “comes in and puffs his chest out and says: ‘I’m going to, like, out-tough Donald Trump.’”.

Last month, Trump announced a new 50% tariff on cars and raw materials from Canada. He accused the country of “ripping off” the US “for years”, adding: “We don’t need Canada, they need us!”.

Carney said last month Canada would not accept a US trade deal that weakened French-language protections, saying American negotiators viewed the measures as an “irritant”, while “in Quebec, these are rights”.

O Quebec tem mantido, há muito tempo, leis destinadas a proteger a língua francesa e preservar sua distinta identidade cultural. Essas medidas tornaram-se um ponto de atrito nas negociações comerciais entre os dois países, com negociadores americanos levantando preocupações sobre regras que, segundo eles, podem colocar empresas dos EUA em desvantagem.