OTTAWA — CTV News has confirmed that the U.S. is once again considering slapping tariffs on aluminum imports coming from Canada.
An announcement is possible in the coming weeks, according to two Canadian sources.
Bloomberg News first reported the possibility of the U.S. slapping another set of tariffs on Canada on Monday night. The tariffs would fall under Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act, and the threat comes amid U.S. claims that their aluminum market is being flooded by Canadian product.
When asked about the tariff threat, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office said in a statement that the government “will always defend Canada’s aluminum sector and its workers.”
“The free flow of goods and services, including aluminum, is important for jobs and economic growth in both of our countries. We firmly believe that our aluminum exports do not harm the US market. We are emphasizing this in our ongoing conversations with our American partners,” the statement read.
The United States had previously hit Canada with steel and aluminum tariffs in May 2018, in the middle of new NAFTA negotiations. The tariffs remained in place for a year, during which time Canada fired back with dollar-for-dollar countermeasures on American steel, aluminum, and a surtax on other goods.
Canada and the U.S. issued a join statement announcing the decision to lift the tariffs in May of last year, confirming that the countries had agreed to lift all the tariffs and terminate the World Trade Organization litigation underway – which Canada had launched after slamming the U.S. tariffs as “punitive,” and “an affront” to Canada-U.S. relations.
The agreement to lift tariffs came amid indications that new NAFTA trade talks were moving in a positive direction. That trade agreement has since been ratified by all three countries — Canada, the U.S., and Mexico — and comes into effect on July 1.
When the tariffs were lifted last year, Trudeau called it a “good day for steel and aluminum workers right across the country.“
With files from CTV’s Rachel Aiello
