Canada shoots back with tariffs on US

Canada has retaliated with C$30 billion ($21 billion) worth of duties against the United States after it imposed sweeping 25% tariffs on the vast majority of Canadian goods and 10% on energy and minerals.

Another C$125 billion worth of Canadian tariffs are due to come in about three weeks after the government consults with industry, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday. He addressed Americans directly:

“We don’t want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally, and we don’t want to see you hurt either, but your government has chosen to do this to you,” Trudeau said. “As of this morning, markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically all across your country, your government has chosen to put American jobs at risk.”

The prime minister said the Canadian tariffs are to remain in place until the US trade action is withdrawn while provinces and territories may pursue non-tariff measures, Trudeau said.

The US tariffs were originally planned a month ago before the White House gave a reprieve for Ottawa to address concerns about border security and fentanyl smuggling. A separate set of 25% duties on aluminum and steel are due on March 12.

The historic moves by the Trump administration, when a free trade agreement exists across North America that the president himself signed in his first term, are staggering.

Markets drop

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.7% or about 700 points by early afternoon in New York, bringing the index to about 42,500. The S&P 500 dropped 1.4% or about 80 points to around 5,770. ​In Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index plunged nearly 2.3%, or about 550 points to near 24,450.

The Canadian dollar initially fell to a one-month low of 1.4541 per US dollar or 68.75¢ on Tuesday before rebounding slightly to 69.2¢.

Trudeau also spoke directly at US President Donald Trump:

“It’s not in my habit to agree with The Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do. We’re two friends fighting. This is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see.”

Pierre Poilievre, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, which is ahead in polls before a likely federal election call this month, said: “President Trump stabbed America’s best friend in the back. My message to the president is this: Canada will fight back. We will defend our people and our economy, and we will put Canada first.”

Canadian federal and provincial leaders said impacted industries and people could expect government support. Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, told reporters on Tuesday it would resemble the covid-19 cash programs that had been led by the federal government.

Ontario power

In response to the tariffs, Ford said that he’d sweep American alcohol valued at C$1 billion a year from the shelves of the province’s liquor stores, the world’s largest buyer of wine and spirits. Ford also cancelled government contracts with US suppliers and consultants worth about C$30 billion and killed a C$100 million deal with Elon Musk’s Starlink to serve remote regions with internet.

“We could have poured our effort into making Canada, the US, the two richest, most successful, safest, most secure two countries on the planet,” Ford said. “Unfortunately, one man, President Trump, has chosen chaos instead. Now we have no choice. We have to respond.”

Ford said he would consider imposing export taxes on nickel and 25% on electricity sold to the US if the White House hikes up the tariffs.

“We need to speed up approvals on critical minerals that the world wants, the Americans need and we have,” he said. “We can no longer take 10 years to get shovels in the ground. This is what we need to do on many areas. We need to move quickly.”

On Monday at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada’s annual convention in Toronto, Ford said he would declare critical mineral regions like the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario as being of strategic importance to trigger accelerated approvals.

The Quebec Mining Association (QMA) said it “deplores” the tariffs and would coordinate its members’ responses, but called on government levels to help speed mining projects as one way to help an economy under threat.

Quebec mining

“The situation we feared has materialized, and the players in the mining industry are ready to make a major concerted effort to minimize the repercussions of both the US tariffs and the countermeasures announced by Canada,” Emmanuelle Toussaint, president and CEO of the QMA, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“It is clear, however, that the multiplication of administrative formalities and increased delays for the development of mining projects in Quebec must stop,” Toussaint said. “This must be at the top of the government’s list of priorities if we are to remain competitive in the current context.”

The premier of New Brunswick, Susan Holt, said that “neighbours don’t treat neighbours like this.” Tim Houston, the premier of Nova Scotia, said that Donald Trump is “a short-sighted man who wields his power for the sake of it.”

The US also slapped 25% tariffs on Mexico. ​Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she will order retaliatory tariffs on US goods, and these measures would be publicly detailed on March 9.

Gold movement

As trade conflicts continue to escalate, gold prices rose once again on Tuesday to surpass the $2,900/oz. level, recovering from its worst week in three months. By 1:30 p.m. in New York, spot gold was up 0.6% to $2,910.17/oz., while futures gained 0.8% to $2,925.50/oz.

Gold prices in the US have surged above international benchmarks in recent months amid fears that the metal could be included in Trump’s sweeping tariff measures. This in turn created a lucrative arbitrage opportunity for traders, leading to record gold shipments from London to New York.

The extreme price dislocations are now fading, with the gap between Comex futures and spot prices shrinking from highs of about $60 in January.

“That trade is getting exhausted,” said Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities, in a Bloomberg note. “There are now a lot of kilo bars in the US, which is not a natural market” for them, he said, adding that Asia more typically takes such bars as it boasts a robust retail market.

Stockpiles at Comex depositories totaled 39.4 million oz. as of Monday, the highest in four years. The last time the exchange’s gold stocks experienced such a spike was during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, copper prices, the bellwether for the global economy, fell about 1.0% to $4.56/lb.