Ottawa's retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made aluminum could hit everything from washing machines to golf clubs

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OTTAWA — Tariffs proposed by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on American-made aluminum products could extend into a wide range of consumer products in Canada, including everything from staples to washing machines to golf clubs.

The retaliatory tariffs, floated on Friday in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 10 per cent levies on some raw aluminum products, is the latest salvo in a revived trade dispute between the two countries. Government officials estimate the Canadian tariffs will amount to roughly $3.6 billion on imported raw aluminum and aluminum products. They will come into force September 16 following a 30-day consultation.

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Ottawa's retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made aluminum could hit everything from washing machines to golf clubs Back to video

Mark Warner, lawyer at Toronto-based MAAW Law, said Ottawa’s response was restrained in the sense that it exclusively targets aluminum products, rather than escalating the dispute by introducing tariffs on a range of other goods.

Even so, the move does widen the scope to include consumer products, unlike levies by Trump that exclusively targeted raw supplies of the metallic element. Canada and the U.S. signed a joint statement in May 2019 that limited retaliatory tariffs to in-kind imports, stipulating that only “affected sectors” could be included in reciprocal levies.

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“It’s a broad list of products, but narrow in the sense that we stuck to the terms of the agreement and it’s products containing aluminum,” Warner said. “It’s not as bad as it could have been — I feared that we might actually go beyond that to something outside the scope of the agreement itself.”

Tariffs introduced by Ottawa will raise costs for Canadians, Warner said, but said those added costs are unlikely to make a noticeable difference to average consumers.

The products that could be hit with a 10 per cent levy in Canada include livestock trailers, wheel rims for bicycles, nuts and bolts, aluminum foil, aluminum oxide, and even leg bands for migratory birds and pigeons, according to a proposed list supplied by Finance Canada on Friday.

“The list is kind of spread out,” he said. “Are people going to even notice it when they go to buy the bicycle parts? Maybe not — it seems unlikely that they are going to get upset.”

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Observers who spoke to the National Post said it was unclear what specific products might eventually be targeted under the proposed list.

Michael Agosti, senior business advisor at Dentons law firm, said in a written response that the proposed tariffs by Ottawa indicated “no aim to proactively escalate” the ongoing trade spat.

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The response from Canada marks something of a departure from a host of tariffs announced by Ottawa in May 2018, which targeted up to $16.6 billion worth of steel, aluminum and a wide array of other unrelated products in retaliation for U.S. levies. Those tariffs, similar to the comparable tariffs levelled by the U.S., were eventually dropped in 2019.

The decision by Trump to revive the trade war heaps more pressure on the Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which has already suffered a moderate drop in public polling amid the WE controversy.

Some observers on Friday said the recent escalation in Canada-U.S. tensions is not entirely out of the ordinary, as disputes over trade between the two countries has persisted for decades. Canada, the U.S. and Mexico battled for years under Chapter 19 of the former NAFTA, which lays out a dispute mechanism for anti-dumping and countervailing allegations similar to those levelled by Trump this week.

“It’s not like this is unusual,” Warner said of the recent scuffle.

Are people going to even notice it

The Trump administration has made claims for years that Canada has been flooding the U.S. market with raw steel and aluminum products, which has in turn lowered market prices enjoyed by American producers. Canadian officials reject those claims.

“Canada has been taking advantage of us,” Trump said in a speech Thursday, when he announced the tariffs would be re-imposed. The U.S. tariffs will come into force Aug. 16.

Many U.S. lobby groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has warned against the tariffs, saying it would only raise costs on American products like beer and household appliances.

In a statement Thursday evening, Freeland called the levies “unwarranted and unacceptable.” Supplies of Canadian aluminum “strengthens U.S. national security and has done so for decades through unparalleled cooperation between our two countries,” she said.