Skip to content

Outraged Canada slaps tax on U.S. pickles. Lawn mowers, beer kegs and pizzas too!

Today, Mr. President, you messed with Canadian steel. So we're coming for your gherkins!
GherkinPickle
File photo: Gherkin pickle

Quiche. Toilet paper. Steel tubes. Chocolate. Coffee. Gherkin pickles. And something called "odoriferous preparations used during religious rites."

These are just a few of the U.S.-manufactured items that Canada is planning to penalize in planned countermeasures against President Donald Trump's just-announced tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum products.

The following is the full list of retaliatory measures proposed this afternoon by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.

The countermeasures are to take effect on July 1.

They will remain in effect until the Trump administration eliminates today's trade-restrictive measures against Canada.

Canada will hold 15 days of consultations on the new tariffs.

Goods subject to a 10 per cent surtax or similar trade-restrictive measures

  • Yogourt
  • Coffee, roasted: Not decaffeinated
  • Prepared meals: Of spent fowl; Specially defined mixtures
  • Other: Specially defined mixtures, other than in cans or glass jars; Spent fowl other than in cans or glass jars
  • Prepared meals, of bovine
  • Other prepared or preserved meat of bovine, other than in cans or glass jars
  • Maple sugar and maple syrup
  • Licorice candy; Toffee
  • Other sugar confectionery (including white chocolate), not containing cocoa
  • Other chocolate, in blocks, slabs or bars: Filled
  • Other chocolate, in blocks, slabs or bars: Not filled
  • Pizza and quiche
  • Cucumbers and gherkins
  • Strawberry jam
  • Nut purées and nut pastes, berry purées, other fruit purées other than banana purée, other jams, jellies
  • Orange juice: Not frozen, of a Brix value not exceeding 20
  • Soya sauce
  • Tomato ketchup and other tomato sauces
  • Prepared mustard
  • Mayonnaise, salad dressing, mixed condiments and mixed seasonings, other sauces
  • Soups and broths and preparations therefor
  • Waters, including mineral waters and aerated waters, containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or flavoured
  • Whiskies
  • Manicure or pedicure preparations
  • Hair lacquers
  • Pre-shave, shaving or aftershave preparations
  • Preparations for perfuming or deodorizing rooms, including odoriferous preparations used during religious rites
  • Organic surface-active products and preparations for washing the skin, in the form of liquid or cream and put up for retail sale, whether or not containing soap
  • Automatic dishwasher detergents
  • Other candles and tapers and the like not including those for birthdays, Christmas or other festive occasions
  • Products suitable for use as glues or adhesives, put up for retail sale as glues or adhesives, not exceeding a net weight of 1 kg
  • Insecticides: In packages of a gross weight not exceeding 1.36 kg each
  • Fungicides: In packages of a gross weight not exceeding 1.36 kg each
  • Herbicides, anti-sprouting products and plant-growth regulators: In packages of a gross weight not exceeding 1.36 kg each
  • Other sacks and bags (including cones) of polymers of ethylene
  • Other sacks and bags (including cones) of other plastics
  • Tableware and kitchenware
  • Household articles and hygienic or toilet articles, of plastics
  • Plywood, consisting solely of sheets of wood (other than bamboo), each ply not exceeding 6 mm thickness: Other, with both outer plies of coniferous wood
  • Other plywood, veneered panels and similar laminated wood
  • Other paper and paperboard, not containing fibres obtained by a mechanical or chemi-mechanical process or of which not more than 10 per cent by weight of the total fibre content consists of such fibres: Weighing 40 g/m² or more but not more than 150 g/m², in sheets with one side not exceeding 435 mm and the other side not exceeding 297 mm in the unfolded state
  • Other paper and paperboard coated, impregnated or covered with plastics (excluding adhesives)
  • Toilet paper
  • Handkerchiefs, cleansing or facial tissues and towels
  • Tablecloths and serviettes
  • Bobbins, spools caps and similar supports of a kind used for winding textile yarn, of paper pulp, paper or paperboard (whether or not perforated or hardened)
  • Other bobbins, spools caps and similar supports of paper pulp, paper or paperboard (whether or not perforated or hardened)
  • Printed or illustrated postcards; printed cards bearing personal greetings, messages or announcements, whether or not illustrated, with or without envelopes or trimmings
  • Beer kegs, of iron or steel, of a capacity of 50 litres or more
  • Beer kegs, of iron or steel, of a capacity of less than 50 litres
  • Parts of iron or steel, of stoves, ranges, grates, cookers (including those with subsidiary boilers for central heating), barbeques, braziers, gas-rings, plate warmers and similar non-electric domestic appliances
  • Aluminum bars, rods and profiles
  • Aluminum wire
  • Aluminum plates, sheets and strip, of a thickness exceeding 0.2 mm
  • Aluminum foil (whether or not printed or backed with paper, paperboard, plastics or similar backing materials) of a thickness (excluding any backing) not exceeding 0.2 mm
  • Aluminum tubes and pipes
  • Aluminum tube or pipe fittings (for example, couplings, elbows, sleeves)
  • Aluminum structures (excluding prefabricated buildings of heading 94.06) and parts of structures (for example, bridges and bridge-sections, towers, lattice masts, roofs, roofing frameworks, doors and windows and their frames and thresholds for doors, balustrades, pillars and columns); aluminum plates, rods, profiles, tubes and the like, prepared for use in structures
  • Aluminum reservoirs, tanks, vats and similar containers, for any material (other than compressed or liquefied gas), of a capacity exceeding 300 litres, whether or not lined or heat-insulated, but not fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment
  • Aluminum casks, drums, cans, boxes and similar containers (including rigid or collapsible tubular containers), for any material (other than compressed or liquefied gas), of a capacity not exceeding 300 litres, whether or not lined or heat-insulated, but not fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment
  • Aluminum containers for compressed or liquefied gas
  • Stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and the like, of aluminum, not electrically insulated
  • Table, kitchen or other household articles and parts thereof, of aluminum; pot scourers and scouring or polishing pads, gloves and the like, of aluminum; sanitary ware and parts thereof, of aluminum
  • Other articles of aluminum
  • Combined refrigerator-freezers, fitted with separate external doors
  • Instantaneous or storage water heaters, non-electric: Other than instantaneous gas water heaters
  • Other dishwashing machines, other than of the household type
  • Mowers for lawns, parks or sports-grounds: Powered, with the cutting device rotating in a horizontal plane
  • Household or laundry-type washing machines, each of a dry linen capacity not exceeding 10 kg: Fully-automatic machines
  • Household or laundry-type washing machines, each of a dry linen capacity exceeding 10 kg
  • Boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets and other bases, equipped with two or more apparatus of heading 85.35 or 85.36, for electric control or the distribution of electricity, including those incorporating instruments or apparatus of Chapter 90, and numerical control apparatus, other than switching apparatus of heading 85.17
  • Inflatable boats
  • Sailboats, with or without auxiliary motor
  • Motorboats, other than outboard motorboats
  • Outboard motorboats, other vessels for pleasure or sports
  • Automatic regulating or controlling instruments and apparatus
  • Other seats, with wooden frames: Upholstered
  • Mattresses of cellular rubber or plastics, whether or not covered
  • Mattresses of other materials
  • Sleeping bags
  • Other bedding and similar articles
  • Playing cards
  • Ball point pens
  • Felt-tipped and other porous-tipped pens and markers

Goods subject to a 25 per cent surtax or similar trade-restrictive measures

  • Iron and non-alloy steel in ingots or other primary forms
  • Semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel
  • Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, hot-rolled, not clad, plated or coated
  • Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, cold-rolled (cold-reduced), not clad, plated or coated
  • Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more, clad, plated or coated
  • Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of less than 600 mm, not clad, plated or coated
  • Flat-rolled products of iron or non-alloy steel, of a width of less than 600 mm, clad, plated or coated
  • Bars and rods, hot-rolled, in irregularly wound coils, of iron or non-alloy steel
  • Bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel, not further worked than forged, hot-rolled, hot-drawn or hot-extruded, but including those twisted after rolling
  • Other bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel
  • Wire of iron or non-alloy steel
  • Stainless steel in ingots or other primary forms; semi-finished products of stainless steel
  • Flat-rolled products of stainless steel, of a width of 600 mm or more
  • Flat-rolled products of stainless steel, of a width of less than 600 mm
  • Bars and rods, hot-rolled, in irregularly wound coils, of stainless steel
  • Other bars and rods of stainless steel; angles, shapes and sections of stainless steel
  • Wire of stainless steel
  • Other alloy steel in ingots or other primary forms; semi-finished products of other alloy steel
  • Flat-rolled products of other alloy steel, of a width of 600 mm or more
  • Flat-rolled products of other alloy steel, of a width of less than 600 mm
  • Bars and rods, hot-rolled, in irregularly wound coils, of other alloy steel
  • Other bars and rods of other alloy steel; angles, shapes and sections, of other alloy steel; hollow drill bars and rods, of alloy or non-alloy steel
  • Wire of other alloy steel
  • U, I or H sections, of iron or non-alloy steel, not further worked than hot-rolled, hot-drawn or extruded, of a height of less than 80 mm
  • L sections, of iron or non-alloy steel, not further worked than hot-rolled, hot-drawn or extruded, of a height of less than 80 mm
  • T sections, of iron or non-alloy steel, not further worked than hot-rolled, hot-drawn or extruded, of a height of less than 80 mm
  • Other angles, shapes and sections, of iron or non-alloy steel, not further worked than hot-rolled, hot-drawn or extruded
  • Other angles, shapes and sections, of iron or non-alloy steel
  • Other tubes and pipes (for example, welded, riveted or similarly closed), having circular cross-sections, the external diameter of which exceeds 406.4 mm, of iron or steel
  • Other tubes, pipes and hollow profiles (for example, open seam or welded, riveted or similarly closed), of iron or steel
  • Sheet piling of iron or steel, whether or not drilled, punched or made from assembled elements
  • Railway or tramway track construction material of iron or steel: Fish-plates and sole plates
  • Other railway or tramway track construction material of iron or steel
  • Line pipe of a kind used for oil or gas pipelines: Of stainless steel
  • Line pipe of a kind used for oil or gas pipelines: Other
  • Casing or tubing, of a kind used in drilling for oil or gas: Of stainless steel
  • Other casing or tubing, of a kind used in drilling for oil or gas
  • Tubes and pipes, of circular cross-section, of iron or non-alloy steel: Cold-drawn or cold-rolled (cold-reduced)
  • Other tubes and pipes, of circular cross-section, of iron or non-alloy steel
  • Tubes and pipes, of circular cross-section, of stainless steel: Cold-drawn or cold-rolled (cold-reduced)
  • Other tubes and pipes, of circular cross-section, of stainless steel
  • Tubes and pipes, of circular cross-section, of other alloy steel: Cold-drawn or cold-rolled (cold-reduced)
  • Other tubes and pipes, of circular cross-section, of other alloy steel
  • Tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, seamless, of iron (other than cast iron) or steel

Announcing the trade countermeasures today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emphasized that Canada is taking action against the Trump administration, not the American people.

"I want to be very clear about one thing: Americans remain our partners, friends, and allies," Trudeau said.

"This is not about the American people. We have to believe that at some point their common sense will prevail. But we see no sign of that in this action today by the US administration."


What's next?


If you would like to apply to become a Verified reader Verified Commenter, please fill out this form.


Discussion


David Helwig

About the Author: David Helwig

David Helwig's journalism career spans seven decades beginning in the 1960s. His work has been recognized with national and international awards.
Read more