U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he will soon bring in new tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber that match the “tremendously high” duties he says Canada charges for shipping those products to the U.S.
The new tariffs could start as soon as Friday or early next week, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“Canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs for lumber and dairy products,” he said.
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“They’ll be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it. That’s what reciprocal means. And we may do it as early as today or we’ll wait until Monday or Tuesday. But that’s what we’re going to do, we’re going to charge the same thing. It’s not fair.”
The tariffs appeared to be separate from the so-called reciprocal tariffs Trump is planning to start imposing on April 2, which will match all tariffs on products sold by other countries to the U.S.
They’re also on top of sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods and 10 per cent duties on Canadian energy that began on Tuesday.
Trump exempted certain products traded under North American free trade rules on Thursday.
More to come…