Trump 50% Tariffs to Canada How Will It Affect You
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| Goods from Canada that will take 50 percent tariffs include plywood, marine buoys and “articles for Christmas festivities, ornaments, not of glass or wood.”Clockwise from top: Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters; Reuters; Getty Images |
Buoys, dog muzzles, capes, national flags and “base metal statuettes” from Canada are now more expensive for U.S. shoppers.
Reporting from Ottawa
New York Times
Anoraks and suit jackets. National flags. Some Christmas ornaments. And 36 different kinds of plywood.
The lists of hundreds of goods from Canada subject to new 50 percent tariffs from the United States is long and seemingly organized at random.
The Trump administration imposed the tariffs, which took effect on Saturday, after Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada called off trade negotiations with the United States that had lasted nearly a month. “They asked too much and offered too little,” Mr. Carney said.
Mr. Carney has promised to retaliate “dollar for dollar” against the new tariffs, which join previous tariffs of up to 50 percent that President Trump put on Canadian aluminum, steel and autos last year. Lumber has tariffs that predate Mr. Trumps’s return to office; he nevertheless increased them last year.
Here are some of the goods that are subject to the new tariffs:
Major Exports
For Canadian companies that depend on U.S. business, the new tariffs are likely to be a source of great anxiety. For customs brokers and trade lawyers who guide those companies, they are an extraordinary business opportunity.
But for the lay reader, the tariffs are sometimes baffling. The items affected, according to the Trump administration, cover $20 billion in Canadian exports. They are laid out in three lists, which can be found here, here and here.
Some clear patterns emerge from the text. Canada’s forest industry, which has been enmeshed in a seemingly endless battle with the United States for decades, has been particularly targeted. On the lists, the many wood products include 36 different kinds of plywood alone. Homebuilders in the United States have already said there is not enough American product to replace Canadian plywood, so the tariffs could increase housing construction costs.
Alcohol is also prominent. The Trump administration has been particularly vexed by the fact that eight of Canada’s 10 provinces still restrict U.S. wine and spirits from their government-owned liquor distribution system and stores. Those measures began after Mr. Trump suggested making Canada the 51st state and imposed tariffs in violation of the free trade agreement between the two countries and Mexico.
Some of the drinks now effectively shut out from the United States by tariffs hold little obvious appeal, including “mixtures of or with a basis of odoriferous substances with 20 to 50 percent alcohol by weight requiring only the addition of ethyl alcohol or water to be a beverage.” Left unexplained is why anyone would add more alcohol to something that is already half composed of the intoxicant.
Dairy products are another target. Canada uses production quotas and other tools to protect domestic dairy producers, who sell largely to the Canadian market, potentially limiting the effect of the new U.S. duties.
Clothing and textiles also take a hit. Like the United States, much of Canada’s clothing production moved overseas long ago, and some Canadian online retailers sell goods made abroad to U.S. customers. That, however, will not give them an out. Simply shipping things from Canada triggers the tariffs, regardless of where the products were made.
And Some Peculiarly Specific Ones
Few items of clothing escaped the tariffs. They include overcoats, anoraks, windbreakers, sleeveless jackets, cotton sweaters, T-shirts, car coats, capes, cloaks, track suits, suit jackets, blazers and dresses. Gloves, mittens and mitts are on the list unless they are related to sports.
Also included are national flags, canvas used for painting stage backdrops, tarpaulins, awnings and sun blinds.
Not every item on the list comes from large companies. Several products, including jewelry and honey, come from small, even one-person, operations.
The item descriptions range from the broad to the almost peculiarly specific. Among the latter is wood furniture “of a kind used in the bedroom and not designed for motor vehicle use.”
The tariff list has a bit of a spoilsport bent by including “articles for Christmas festivities, ornaments, not of glass or wood,” toys, including riding ones but not bikes, fishing rods, hockey sticks, skates and “festive, carnival or other entertainment articles.” Dog owners will see similar increases in the price of leashes, collars, muzzles and harnesses.
Many products — including studio television cameras and smartphones — do not appear to be manufactured in Canada at all.
Above all, the list reveals intriguing, hidden sides of Canadian industry, including companies that produce bookbinding machines, egg grading equipment, marine buoys, derricks, sand and steam blasters, stills (“not for domestic purposes”), safes and “base metal statuettes.”
And there is perhaps the finest of all exports from Canada to the United States: “wigs (partial), false beards, eyebrows and the like, of synthetic textile materials.”
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