President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States will raise tariffs on Canadian automobiles, auto parts and steel to 50 per cent starting January 1, 2027, a sharp escalation just days after Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed and the sharpest sign yet that the dispute between the two countries has turned personal as well as economic.
Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social, writing that tariffs on “all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel” from Canada would rise to 50 per cent, doubling the current 25 per cent rate that currently applies only to the non-U.S. content of Canadian-built vehicles. Trump cited what he called a $60-billion U.S. trade deficit with Canada, writing that “Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years,” and noted vehicles built in the U.S. are not subject to the tariff, according to reporting from Bloomberg, CBS News and NBC News.
The announcement lands five days after Canada walked away from the negotiating table in Washington late Friday, ending talks without a deal. U.S. Trade Representative officials said the two sides had made significant progress, with Washington offering to halve steel and aluminum tariffs and substantially cut auto tariffs. Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a different account, saying the U.S. introduced new, last-minute demands touching Canada’s other trading relationships, its auto sector, and protections for Canadian culture and the French language. “In short, they asked too much, and they offered too little,” Carney said. He has since vowed “dollar-for-dollar” retaliation.
The economic fight spilled into open personal insults Monday when Ontario Premier Doug Ford held a news conference in Hamilton to respond to a Trump social media post attacking him directly. Ford told reporters he would not dignify the criticism, saying “I don’t respond to a dictator like President Trump,” according to CBC News and CTV News. Ford went further, calling Trump the “king of bankruptcies” and comparing him to a schoolyard bully: “He’s the type of guy in school that would take your lunch money one day, take your toque off your head the next day and then steal your running shoes.” Ford also doubled down on an earlier comment telling Trump he could “kiss my ass.”
Monday’s tariff announcement is separate from the 50 per cent duties that already took effect Saturday on a range of Canadian goods including furniture, plastics, plywood and electrical equipment, meaning Canadian exporters are now facing escalating U.S. tariffs on two fronts within the same weekend. Autos and steel are among Canada’s largest export categories to the United States, and Ontario’s auto sector, already strained by the current 25 per cent tariff, would be directly exposed if the new rate takes effect as scheduled on New Year’s Day 2027.
Neither government has signalled a return to the negotiating table since talks broke down Friday. With five months before the new tariffs are due to take effect, the open question is whether Ottawa and Washington resume talks before the January deadline, or whether the war of words between Trump and Ford becomes the dominant tone of the dispute in the meantime.
This story draws on reporting from Bloomberg, CBS News, NBC News, CBC News and CTV News.
