Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he is “disappointed” by an increased tariff on some exports to the United States.
Donald Trump escalated a trade war by boosting the tariff rate from 25% to 35%, saying that Canada had “failed to cooperate” in curbing the flow of fentanyl and other drugs across the US border. The Canadian government says it is cracking down on drug gangs.
However most goods from Canada will dodge the import tax imposed by the US thanks to an existing trade treaty, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Economists and financial analysts have warned that the new levies will raise prices for businesses and consumers in the US and weigh on the economy, predictions that the Trump administration has dismissed.
I wonder what be the effect if Canada enacted an additional tax on exports of certain products to USA particularly needed by US (lumber, foods, fertilizer) so that the bumped up price increases don’t all go to Trump’s tax cuts for wealthy?
And use the resulting funds to make refunds later to exporters in proportion to how much they ship those same items to non-US countries. Make it cheaper for EU, etcetera, to get those things and establish trade patterns.