Canada Finance Minister Champagne backs counter-tariffs as proportionate

Canada just announced retaliatory tariffs covering about $20 billion of U.S. goods. On Tuesday, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced retaliatory tariffs on a sliding scale of 15%, 25% and 50% covering roughly about $20 billion (CA$27.6 billion) of U.S. goods. • Alcoa stock is moving in positive territory. What’s driving AA shares up? Existing counter-tariffs on American steel and aluminum double from 25% to 50%. The 50% band also captures U.S.-made furniture, clothing and apparel, video game consoles, smartphones and other electronics. Appliances, cheese, fish, seafood and certain steel and aluminum derivative products are 25%; American machinery, industrial tools and farm equipment are 15%. The measures take effect Sept. 8. On Monday, President Donald Trump threatened to raise 50% tariffs on Canadian vehicles, auto parts and steel starting January 2027. The $20 Billion Is Smaller Than It Looks The U.S. exported $333.6 billion of goods to Canada in 2025, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade representative. That means the roughly $20 billion targeted by Ottawa represents about 6% of annual U.S. goods exports to Canada. Total two-way goods trade came to $715.5 billion, with the U.S. running a $48.3 billion goods deficit. The U.S. accounted for nearly half of Canada’s goods imports in 2025. Market Reactions Canada is the largest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the U.S, making the two industries highly exposed to cross-border trade. Right now, steel and aluminum sectors are up: Alcoa Corp. (NYSE: AA ) rose 2.3%, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF ) added 1.3% and Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE ) 0.6%. Farm equipment runs the other way. Canada ranked as either the largest or second-largest destination for American exports across most of the sectors on Tuesday’s list last year, according to U.S. trade data cited by CNN. Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE ), in the 15% group, fell 2.5%. Canadian equities barely flinched. The MSCI Canada index — as tracked by iShares MSCI Canada ETF (NYSE: EWC ) — rose 0.6% to $62.46. The U.S. dollar was unchanged at 1.38424 Canadian dollars, though it has weakened about 2% against the loonie (Canadian dollar) over the past month. Photo: Shutterstock Read Also: Airline Stocks Rally, Treasury Yields Fall as Oil Tumbles on Iran Sanctions