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Canada's Prime Minister Vows to Protect Canadian Economy After US Unveils New 50% Tariffs

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Prime Minister Mark Carney reiterated Canada's support for free and fair trade after the US announced late Monday plans to impose a new 50% tariff on a broad range of Canadian exports.

Noting that the US has been reassessing its trade relationships over the past 18 months, including those governed by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Carney said Canada has put forward comprehensive proposals to resolve the dispute and modernize the USMCA.

"We stand ready to intensify those discussions in the coming weeks," Carney said in a statement late Monday after the announcement of the new tariffs by the administration of President Donald Trump.

The prime minister said the government remains committed to taking all necessary steps to build economic resilience and protect the interests of Canadian workers, farmers, businesses and families.

Corpay's rough estimates suggest that the overall increase in potential levies would amount to around $19.1 billion, equivalent to 4.6% of Canadian exports to the U.S, implying that the average tariff rate applied to Canadian goods could rise by about 2.3 percentage points.

"This would undoubtedly be painful for the affected Canadian industrial sectors, but should be substantially less damaging to the economy than initially feared," wrote Karl Schamotta, Corpay's chief market strategist, in a late Monday note.

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