U.S. plastics, steel on list of items Canada may target with retaliatory tariffs

Canada is looking to target multiple American goods with retaliatory tariffs in response to a heightening trade dispute with the incoming Trump administration.

While the list is not final, a senior government official says American ceramics, plastics and steel will be affected. Ottawa has made no decisions yet on retaliation.

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico when he is inaugurated later this month.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers will meet in Ottawa next week to discuss the country’s response plan, including retaliatory tariffs.

Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. does not need anything from Canada and spoke about using “economic force” to annex the country to become the 51st state.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said the country “will never be for sale.”

The premier has previously threatened to cut off energy the province sells to four states should the tariffs be implemented, but he said he does not want to do that.

This is Ford’s latest response to the tariff threats, after announcing a plan Tuesday to beef up patrols along the 14 border crossings into the U.S. in Ontario.

According to CBC News Wednesday, a draft list was circulating among a small group of officials in Trudeau’s government, and that the list includes products like Florida orange juice.

When the U.S. imposed steel and aluminum tariffs during Trump’s first term, Canada retaliated by targeting American products like ketchup, playing cards and bourbon.

Trudeau says that Trump’s remarks about Canada becoming the 51st state is a distraction from the real concern of tariffs.

He highlighted that trade and investment between Canada and the U.S. support millions of jobs on both sides of the border, and that a tariff on goods crossing the border would have negative impacts for both countries.

– With files from The Canadian Press.

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