Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on American goods are now in effect

In a national video address released Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that Canada’s pivot away from the United States will come at a cost, but the alternative would be far worse.

“In the spring of last year, I warned that America is trying to break us so they can own us. And I promised that that will never, ever happen,” Carney said in his video address.

Carney insisted that trade talks fell apart because the U.S. attempted to limit Canada’s ability to trade with other counties, made demands affecting Canada’s ability to protect and promote the French language, and would not move enough on tariffs affecting the auto sector.

“We couldn’t accept what they offered. We wouldn’t give what they’d asked. As a result, the U.S. has imposed new tariffs designed to hurt and divide us,” Carney said last week.

“Now, that’s a miscalculation because Canadians will always take care of each other. And it’s a miscalculation because we have everything we need to build the country we want. We have the reserves, we have the resilience, and we have the right plan.”

In the hours before the new Canadian tariffs took effect, Trump took to social media with some new anti-Canada rants — including an AI-generated cartoon showing him as a hockey player whacking his stick at Carney and shouting, “Get up governor.”

Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to make Canada a U.S. state and has referred to both Carney and his predecessor, former prime minister Justin Trudeau, as governor.

In January 2025, before being sworn in for his second term, Trump ruled out using military force to annex Canada but said he would consider using “economic force” to get Canada to become part of the U.S.

Trump on Monday also threatened to prevent Quebec’s Bombardier from selling in the United States unless it builds its aircraft there. In a lengthy statement, the company cited the thousands of people it employs at more than 20 locations across the United States.

Canada’s counter tariffs include a 50 per cent tariff on a variety of American dairy products such as milk and cream, and a 25 per cent tariff on fresh cheese and curd. Canada is also targeting U.S. wood products with 25 per cent tariffs on softwood, including pine, fir and spruce.

Multiple steel and aluminum products are also being hit with a 50 per cent tariff, up from the current 25 per cent rate. They include steel rods, bars and sheets, along with prefabricated items such as bridges, towers, scaffolding, and door and window frames.

Some beauty products and makeup are now subject to 50 per cent tariffs, including perfumes, sunscreen and suntan products, lip and eye makeup, manicure and pedicure preparations, and hair products.

Carney travelled to Thunder Bay, Ont., last week to announce another multi-billion manufacturing contract, this time to build passenger cars for Via Rail in Ontario.

In a Labour Day statement, Carney said Canada’s effort to build more at home and diversify its trading partners was working.

“Today, in the face of a global rupture, Canada is building big again — new ports, mines, and energy corridors, millions more affordable homes, new roads, railways, and airports. And we are building it all in solidarity with Canadian workers,” Carney said.

Robert Bothwell, a historian and professor at the University of Toronto, said Carney and Canada have become symbols of resistance to Trump.

“What he’ll want to do is make an example of Carney and Canada and theoretically terrify everybody else while in fact showing them that they need to remove themselves even further from the United States,” he said.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called Monday for more transparency from Carney, saying Canadians deserve to know the economic impact counter tariffs would have on businesses and individuals.

“All Canadians stand united in denouncing the president’s unacceptable tweets, trolling and tariffs, and we have to stand united for its workers and all of our people,” Poilievre told a news conference in Regina.

“The Canadian people deserve the facts and a plan. We need to have both of those things from the prime minister, and so far, we’ve had neither.”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has warned that small businesses could close due to the trade war despite Ottawa’s announced supports.

Meanwhile, as Carney gets set to address the European Parliament next week, experts like Daniel Béland say his remarks may have global appeal.

“The Canadian public is behind the Carney government and the world is watching what will happen next,” said Béland, a political scientist at McGill University.

He said if Canada’s defiant approach succeeds, it could offer “a template” to the world on resisting the Trump administration’s trade policies.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2026.

— With files from The Associated Press

The Canadian Press staff

by The Canadian Press

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on American goods are now in effect

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