Steel, plastics, Florida orange juice on Canada’s list of potential retaliatory tariffs against U.S.

Summary:

>Among the most senior officials in Ottawa, there is a document circulating that outlines specific details about how Canada could retaliate against Donald Trump’s tariff threat.

>The list includes hundreds of American-made goods that Canada is considering hitting with retaliatory tariffs, according to a senior Canadian government source.

>American steel products, ceramics including toilets and sinks, glassware, flowers and different types of plastics are all included as possible targets for retaliatory tariffs.

>[…]

>When Trump slapped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum in 2018, Canada selected items in retaliation in hopes of extracting maximum political pressure. That will be the case again should there be a need to respond, the source said.

>The source said many of the steel products that are being considered for tariffs are produced in the key swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania. A tariff on orange juice from Florida aims to send a message to Trump’s adopted state, and the new centre of American power.

>CBC News previously reported that officials around Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are increasingly convinced that the president-elect will follow through with his threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

>[…]

>The senior Canadian government source, whom CBC News is not naming because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said a decision has yet to be made on whether to make the full list of Canadian tariff threats public before Trump’s inauguration.

>Sources told Radio-Canada that some members of the cabinet committee responsible for Canada-U.S. relations don’t want to release the list before Trump imposes tariffs because it would provoke the president-elect.

>The federal government is also examining the possibility of using energy exports as leverage to dissuade the future Trump administration from going ahead with its threats, the sources told Radio-Canada.

>Ontario Premier Doug Ford has raised the idea of cutting off his province’s electricity exports to the U.S. However, this suggestion is not unanimous among the provinces. Alberta, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador have already declared their opposition to the idea of cutting off energy supplies to the United States.

>Trudeau is expected to announce details of the Canadian plan when he meets the premiers next week in Ottawa.

Further reading:

[No longer a joke: Ministers say Trump’s threats to absorb Canada need to be taken seriously | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-absorb-canada-response-1.7426177)

!ping Can

>Ontario Premier Doug Ford has raised the idea of cutting off his province’s electricity exports to the U.S. However, this suggestion is not unanimous among the provinces. Alberta, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador have already declared their opposition to the idea of cutting off energy supplies to the United States.

To quote [Dan Gardner](https://dgardner.substack.com/p/how-canada-should-respond-to-trump):

>I’ve never been a fan of Ontario Premier Doug Ford, to say the least, but his public comments suggest he understands the need to curl up his pudgy fist and fight. God bless him. The Western premiers who leapt up and promised to do Trump’s bidding, and angrily ruled out hitting the Yanks hard, are fools.