As the trade war continues across the Western Hemisphere and over to China, countries are now starting to hit back with their own retaliatory tariffs, or threats of them.
Here is a running list of some of the proposed tariffs, a few of which are currently in a comment period:
China: Fruit, nuts, wine, pork, aircraft, soybeans, corn, cotton, wheat, forms of beef, cranberries, orange juice, whiskey, tobacco, liquid propane, some polyester, plastic products, chemicals, and forms of aluminum and steel.
The proposed tariffs will target up to $50 billion in U.S. exports.
Canada: Cheese, pizza, quiche, chocolate, whiskies, toilet paper, paper towels, strawberry jam, ketchup, mustard, yogurt, lawn mowers, refrigerators, washing machines, maple syrup, beer kegs, mineral water, fresh orange juice, mayonnaise, salad dressing, automatic dishwasher detergents, cucumbers, gherkins, ball point pens, felt-tipped pens, plywood, bobbins, roasted coffee, licorice candy, toffee, hair spray, shaving creams, soaps, candles, kitchenware, manicure and pedicure preparations, handkerchiefs, facial tissues, printed postcards, some insecticides, iron products, sailboats, some chairs, mattresses, plastic bags, sleeping bags, playing cards, soy sauce, and forms of aluminum and steel.
At a press conference announcing retaliatory measures, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “Let me be clear: These tariffs are totally unacceptable.”
Business Insider reports that the move is a drastic shift in Trudeau’s public approach to the Trump Administration as increasing tensions come at a critical juncture for the U.S.-Canada economic relationship.
Mexico: Lamps, pork, cheese, flat steel, apples, pears, grapes, cheese, blueberries, sausages, forms of aluminum and steel, and other meat products.
Mexico’s Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo has said the tariffs are about targeting political districts whose lawmakers may get angry calls from constituents and companies in their states. They are hoping that elected officials get a hold of Trump to influence how he moves forward.
“At the end of the day, the effect of this will fall over voters that live in districts that have a voice and a vote in the U.S. Congress,” Secretary Guajardo said.
European Union: Bourbon whiskey, motorcycles, denim, cigarette, cranberry juice, orange juice, some pants and shorts, some bedlinen, corn, tobacco, t-shirts, motor boats, some rice, some beans, peanut butter, and forms of aluminum and steel.
When European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic was asked recently about the new tariffs, he said according to Axios, “It is a measured and proportionate response to the unilateral and illegal decision taken by the United States.”
Some of these retaliatory measure have a “comment period,” in which the itemized list can still be modified before it goes into effect. As well, tariffs from the EU could take years to be implemented, and Trump has left the door open to future negotiations, so the entire premise of the tariffs and the retaliation may fall apart in the end after all, adding an amount of uncertainty to the entire situation.
