OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:11 AM – Friday, August 22, 2025
Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced plans to eliminate Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
According to Bloomberg News, Carney will unveil the broad policy reversal sometime on Friday following a cabinet session, scrapping the 25% duties on a wide selection of U.S. consumer goods covered under the North American trade pact.
The tariff relief means American exports, such as orange juice, wine, apparel, motorcycles, and more, will no longer be subject to steep duties that have been in effect since March.
Sources familiar with the decision told Bloomberg that the rollback will affect about $21.7 billion in U.S. products.
However, Canada will keep tariffs in place on sectors like U.S. imports of autos, steel, and aluminum for now.
The policy reversal followed a phone call between Carney and Trump just a day earlier — their first publicly confirmed discussion in weeks.
Insiders stated that the decision aims to defuse trade tensions ahead of the scheduled review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in the coming months.
The Trudeau administration initially rolled out retaliatory tariffs in early March 2025, covering roughly $21 billion worth of U.S. shipments. A subsequent round followed later that month after Trump imposed tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, adding duties on another roughly $21 billion in U.S. imports, including metals and a broader range of industrial and consumer products.
Then, in April, Carney’s finance minister introduced exemptions, permitting certain American goods to enter Canada tariff-free.
Major automakers such as General Motors and Stellantis were promised tariff relief if they maintained Canadian operations and investment.
Additionally, when Trump doubled his tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50%, Carney had threatened retaliation — but then refrained from carrying it out. Ottawa also chose not to retaliate when Washington, D.C., raised its so-called “fentanyl tariffs” on Canadian exports from 25% to 35% on August 1st.
| Action | Details |
| Tariffs being dropped | Consumer goods covered by USMCA (~ $21B worth) effective Sept 1, 2025 |
| Tariffs to remain | Internal trade reforms via the One Canadian Economy Act |
| Reasoning | Align with USMCA, reduce tensions, position for trade negotiations |
| Past exemptions | Already suspended/waived many tariffs since mid-May |
| Domestic strategy | Internal trade reforms via One Canadian Economy Act |
Stay informed! Receive breaking news alerts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
What do YOU think? Click here to jump to the comments!Sponsored Content Below