Thread by @ddale8

Breaking: Trump has hit Canada (and Mexico and the EU) with steel and aluminum tariffs.

Told that Canada's government says that it's absurd that Canada poses a national security threat - national security being the official rationale here - Commerce Sec Wilbur Ross says, "Governments will say what they say.”

Some facts:
- The U.S. is the destination for 90% of Canada's steel exports, more than $5 billion per year
- Canada is the #1 source of U.S. steel imports, representing 17%
- The Canadian steel industry is concentrated in Ontario (Hamilton, the Soo), aluminum industry in Quebec

The EU has a very detailed list (politico.eu/wp-content/upl…) of US products it plans to retaliate against, including steel, bourbon, rice, beans, jeans, motor boats, makeup, and orange juice. Canada has not specified plans yet; government has said it's contemplating several options.

The official justification for the tariffs is national security. Wilbur Ross flatly says Canada and Mexico are getting hit because NAFTA talks have stalled.

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by @KThomasDC view original on Twitter

Story, to be updated: Trump imposes steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, damaging Canadian companies and the broader relationship: thestar.com/news/canada/20…

Sasse: "This is dumb. Europe, Canada and Mexico are not China, and you don't treat allies the same way you treat opponents."

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Trump explicitly argues that allies have treated the U.S. worse on trade than its enemies have.

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Mexico and the EU have already announced plans for retaliatory tariffs. Trudeau is holding a news conference at 1:30 pm.

Ontario premier (who trails in next week's election): "I think that we've all had just about enough of Donald Trump. This is a president who rules by tweet. He's a man who doesn't seem to get that his bluster and his bullying are costing people real jobs."

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Doug Ford, Ontario Progressive Conservative leader (and a Trump devotee), calls the tariffs "harmful":

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"Today this is a defeat for Justin Trudeau," Conservative foreign affairs critic Erin O'Toole says, arguing that Trudeau failed to make an effective case to Trump.

Trudeau is reciting all the ways Canada has supported the U.S.: "From the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of Afghanistan...we came to America's aid after 9/11..."

Trudeau says the tariffs on national security grounds are "an affront" to Canadian soldiers who have died fighting with American soldiers.

Trudeau: "This is not about the American people. We have to believe that at some point, common sense will prevail. But we see no sign of that in this action today by the U.S. administration." This is by far the most critical he's been of Trump.

Freeland says Canada will retaliate with tariffs of up to $6.6 billion on U.S. exports of steel, aluminum and other products. That's the total amount of Canadian exports of steel and aluminum to the U.S., she says.

Freeland says there'll be a 15-day consultation period where Canadians can weigh in on the proposed retaliatory tariffs. She says she'll post the list of proposed targeted U.S. products online for people to see.

Freeland says there'll be 25% tariffs on some U.S. products, 10% on others; will take effect on July 1; will remain in place as long as Trump's tariffs do.

Sorry: Freeland was speaking in French, and the translator said $6.6 billion in tariffs, but Freeland said in English that it's $16.6 billion.

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Here's the long list of U.S. products on which Canada is proposing to impose $16.6 billion worth of tariffs. Includes steel, yogurt, coffee, maple syrup (lol), pizza, aftershave, kitchenware, toilet paper, mattresses, pens, boats, kegs... fin.gc.ca/activty/consul…

Trudeau has tried since 2015 to be non-confrontational toward Trump, no matter what Trump has said about Canada or done, so this is a significant change today.

Freeland says this is the strongest trade action Canada has taken "in the post-war era."

Freeland says they looked for U.S. products to retaliate against "for which there is a Canadian alternative" or another alternative "from a country which is not the United States."

Trudeau describes this as "a turning point in the Canada-U.S. relationship."

Trudeau says he wanted to meet with Trump to resolve NAFTA, but Pence told him that he couldn't meet with Trump unless Canada accepted an auto-termination "sunset clause" in the deal. He said Canada could never accept a sunset clause in NAFTA. Meeting never happened.

The "sunset clause" Trump wants would mean that NAFTA would vanish in five years unless all three countries agree to renew it at that time. Canada has repeatedly said that such a clause defeats the whole point of a trade deal, which is supposed to provide certainty.

Updated story: Trudeau government to hit back against Trump steel and aluminum tariffs with billions in tariffs on U.S. products: thestar.com/news/canada/20…

Here's most of the list of non-steel, non-aluminum products Canada plans to hit with tariffs:

Ontario New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath calls the tariffs "devastating," criticizes Trump for "dangerous protectionism," and says, "Whatever Kathleen Wynne and Justin Trudeau have been doing isn’t working."

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by @AndreaHorwath view original on Twitter