Toronto, Canada, Feb 2 (EFE).- The first effects of the brewing trade war unleashed by the decision of US President Donald Trump to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian products are already appearing: the disappearance of US wines, beers and liquors from Canadian stores.
On Sunday, the government of Ontario, the most industrial and populated in the country, ordered Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO, the only wholesaler of alcohol in the province) to pull ‘Made in USA’ beverages from their shelves starting Tuesday.
The measure is significant: LCBO, one of the largest individual buyers of alcoholic products in the world, sells US alcoholic beverages worth C$1 billion ($680 million) each year.
The province of British Columbia has also taken a similar, albeit slightly more targeted, measure: the provincial monopoly will stop selling beverages produced in the so-called “red” states of the US, those under the control of Trump’s Republican Party.
The decisions are also spreading through the rest of the country: Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador have also ordered their liquor stores to stop stocking American products.
These provincial measures against American alcohol are independent of the 25 percent tariffs that the Canadian federal government will begin to apply to some imports from the US starting Tuesday.
The main objective of Canada’s tariffs is to pressure states and economic sectors close to Trump, and to ensure that Canadian consumers find alternatives, senior Canadian officials said on condition of anonymity.
The first Canadian-enforced tariffs that will come into force on Feb. 4 will affect products worth $30 billion, including juices and fruits (which in many cases come from Florida), household appliances (South Carolina and Ohio) and motorcycles (Pennsylvania).
The products most affected by these tariffs are cosmetics ($3.5 billion), household appliances ($3.4 billion), paper products ($3 billion) and tires ($2 billion).
From Feb. 25, Canada plans to expand the list of products affected, following the same criteria, to include another $125 billion of US imports.
The Canadian officials stressed that the objective of their trade retaliation is not to provoke an escalation in the incipient trade war, but to persuade the US government to restore trade relations to normal.
They also noted that although authorities are having detailed conversations with their Mexican counterparts, which will continue in the coming weeks, the dialogue does not represent coordinated actions.
On Saturday, shortly after Trump signed the decree by which the US will apply 25 percent tariffs to all Canadian imports, except oil and gas, which will be taxed at 10 percent, Canada announced its retaliation.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a press conference that Canada did not want to tax trade with the US but that Trump’s actions had left him with no other option.
Trump has justified the US tariffs, which will also be applied to Mexico, by the trade deficit that the US has with Canada as well as by the flow of migrants and fentanyl that he claims comes from the neighboring country. EFE
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