Canada launches counter auto tariffs against US

Carney said that the global economy “is fundamentally different today than it was yesterday.” (Photo By Dave Parker/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0)

By Xinhua, Philippine News Agency

OTTAWA – Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Thursday Canada will be responding by matching the U.S. approach with 25 percent tariffs on all vehicles imported from the United States that are not compliant with the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

The prime minister said his government would also impose the tariff on non-Canadian content of any CUSMA-compliant vehicles from the US, adding that Mexico won’t be impacted.

Carney said that the global economy “is fundamentally different today than it was yesterday.”

“Yesterday’s actions by the US administration, while not specifically targeting Canada, will rupture the global economy and adversely impact global economic growth,” he said.

“Our old relationship of steadily deepening integration with the United States is over. The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership is over,” he added.

Carney also said his government has gone to the World Trade Organization to argue the tariffs violate international trade law.

Canada was spared from the 10 percent baseline tariffs, but a 25 percent US tariff on imported autos went into effect at midnight.