OTTAWA, Canada — Canada announced new tariffs on approximately US$20 billion in American goods on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
The measures answer a fresh round of 50 per cent duties imposed by the United States on Canadian exports.
The Canadian countertariffs will range from 15 to 50 per cent and take effect on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, the Department of Finance said.
The measures cover C$27.6 billion, or about US$20 billion, in annual imports from the United States.
More than 800 tariff classifications appear on the government’s list of affected goods.
Steel, aluminium, dairy products, household appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper products, electronics, furniture, clothing, fish and machinery components are among the targeted categories.
Canada said the rate imposed on each product would correspond with the American tariff applied to the equivalent Canadian good.
“Our existing counter-tariffs, including those on automobiles, will remain in place,” François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s finance minister, said.
Tariffs Reach 50 Per Cent on Some Goods
Selected steel and aluminium products that previously faced Canadian countertariffs of 25 per cent will be subjected to a 50 per cent rate.
Furniture, clothing and apparel will also face duties of 50 per cent.
Canada will impose 25 per cent tariffs on dairy products, including cheese, as well as appliances, fish, seafood and certain products made from steel and aluminium.
A 15 per cent rate will apply to other listed goods, including rubber moulds and some machinery parts.
The Finance Ministry said the countermeasures would concentrate on Canadian industries most affected by the American tariffs.
“We stand united in fighting for Canada,” Champagne said. “As the Prime Minister has said, we will support our workers, our businesses, and our industry with whatever it takes for as long as it takes.”
The new measures follow tariffs of 50 per cent imposed by the United States on C$27.6 billion in Canadian goods. Those duties took effect on Saturday, August 22.
Prime Minister Mark Carney had pledged that Canada would match the American measures “dollar-for-dollar”.
Trade Negotiations Break Down
The latest escalation followed several weeks of negotiations between Canadian and American officials.
Carney suspended the talks late Friday after the United States presented revised terms that he described as unfair and economically unacceptable.
“We could not accept what the U.S. had offered, nor could we give what they asked,” Carney said.
American officials disputed his account of the negotiations.
Jamieson Greer, the United States trade representative, said Washington had attempted to accommodate Canada by proposing substantial reductions in tariffs on several important exports.
Greer said the United States had offered to cut tariffs by half on steel and aluminium and make significant reductions covering automobiles and softwood lumber.
“They simply wanted more,” Greer told CNBC.
Canada said its countertariffs were designed to match the American measures by value and rate.
The government maintained that the United States had demanded excessive concessions while offering insufficient relief to Canadian workers and businesses.
Political Exchanges Intensify
The trade confrontation has also produced increasingly personal exchanges between President Donald Trump and Canadian officials.
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, said during a radio interview on Monday that Trump could “kiss my ass”.
Ford, who supported Carney’s response to the American tariffs, said Ontario would confront the president “full steam”.
Trump responded on social media, accusing Ford of making “lots of ‘bluster’”.
“Someone should get these clowns to ‘fall in line’ or, the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!” Trump wrote.
Within hours, Trump threatened another round of 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian automobiles and steel.
Ford subsequently described Trump as the “king of bankruptcies” and called him a “loser”.
“I’m not going to take the bait,” Ford said.
On Tuesday morning, Trump escalated his rhetoric further by threatening to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America”.
A Dispute Dating to a World Series Advertisement
Trump and Ford have clashed repeatedly over trade.
In 2025, the Ontario government broadcast a television advertisement during Major League Baseball’s World Series that used remarks by Ronald Reagan, the former Republican president, to criticise tariffs.
“When someone says, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs, and sometimes for a short while it works, but only for a short time,” Reagan said in the recording.
“But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer.”
Trump ended trade negotiations with Canada shortly after the advertisement aired. He also threatened an additional 10 per cent tariff on Canadian goods but did not impose it at the time.
Ford later withdrew the advertisement, saying it had accomplished his objective of beginning a “conversation”.
The latest Canadian measures leave existing countertariffs on American automobiles in place and broaden the range of US products facing duties as the dispute between the neighbouring countries continues.
