Canada implements retaliatory measures in response to US tariffs

On Tuesday, Canada published the United States Surtax Order, which imposes countermeasures on imports of goods from the United States, according to a recent US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report. The Order includes a list of tariff lines that are now subject to a 25% tariff on imports, amounting to over $20 billion in imports from the United States.

According to a statement by Prime Minister Trudeau, on March 25, 2025 the list of impacted products, which includes poultry and meat products, could be expanded to cover an additional $86 billion in imports from the United States.

In a separate press release, the federal government also announced the list of goods that could become subject to a 25% tariff on March 25, 2025; this list is currently subject to stakeholder consultations, as the intent is to narrow it down over the next 21 days. Canada’s countermeasures are meant to minimise the impact on Canadian businesses and consumers on the assumption that taxing imports also hurts domestic stakeholders.

Among the products covered by Canada’s retaliatory list announced on March 4, 2025, there are agricultural commodities and processed food products amounting to $5.5 billion in US exports to Canada. Products were carefully selected to ensure that substitutes can be sourced domestically, or from other foreign suppliers.

For dairy, poultry and egg products, the list currently covers mostly the “over access commitments” tariff lines, which are normally subject to prohibitively high over-quota tariffs. Trade in these products typically occurs under the “within access commitment” tariff lines, which are associated with Canada’s tariff rate quotas (TRQs) where goods enter the country duty free, under limited quantities.

It is expected that the second retaliatory list (to be implemented on March 25, 2025), would include the “within access commitment” tariff lines as well, so that imports under TRQs would also be subject to the 25% surtax.

In 2024, Canada was the second largest export market for US exports of agricultural products valued at $28.4 billion. Of this total, nearly $21 billion were exports of high value consumer-oriented foods.

Tags: tariffs, processed food products, egg products, export, United States, Canada, Meat, Poultry, Dairy, imports, agricultural commodities