Canada has imposed retaliatory tariffs of up to 50% on U.S. goods in response to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and amid an escalating trade war between the neighboring allies.

Canada’s Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced Tuesday that effective Sept. 8 the country “will match the United States tariffs dollar for dollar, rate for rate," by imposing counter tariffs of up to 15%, 25%, or 50% on near $20 billion U.S. imports.

“For each product, our tariff would match the American tariff on the same type of Canadian goods,” he said during a press conference alongside Canadian federal officials.

Read More: 'We Don't Need Canada': Trump Escalates Trade War

Tensions between the U.S. and its northern neighbor have deepened after trade negotiations broke down over the weekend, with both sides blaming one another for last-minute changes.

A broad set of 50% tariffs affecting about $20 billion of Canadian exports to the U.S. came into effect Saturday, after which Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to match them “dollar for dollar.”

“Ultimately, the terms proposed by the U.S. Administration were uneconomic, unfair, and ultimately unacceptable. They asked too much of Canada and offered too little in return,” Champagne said.

The tariffs are set to target more than 700 U.S.-made products and, if matched against the U.S. tariffs on Canada, will include everyday purchases such as seafood, cheese, clothing, cosmetics, and toilet paper.

Canadian officials said the goal is not to raise revenue, but to protect Canadian companies and reduce reliance on U.S. imports.

“Canada's counter tariffs are designed primarily to provide protection for Canadian industry impacted by U.S. tariffs and allow them to compete against U.S. products in the Canadian market. It's all about fairness. It's all about level playing field. It's all about supporting Canadian workers and Canadian businesses,” he said.

Trade between the U.S. and Canada totaled an estimated $872.3 billion in 2025.

In Addition to Tariffs, Trump Targets Canada With Taunts

The announcement came shortly after Trump began taunting the Canadian government over a range of cultural issues.

The President said his Administration is considering renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America” in the latest cultural swipe at Canada amid the broader trade war.

“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump said Tuesday morning.

Lake Ontario is the easternmost of the five Great Lakes and is bordered by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York and Pennsylvania.

Canada’s retaliation also drew Trump’s ire, with the President unleashing a barrage of insults against the U.S.’s second-largest trading partner in goods.

“I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable,” Trump said Tuesday before the official counter tariff announcement by Ottawa, adding his repeated accusation that Canada “has been 'ripping off' the U.S.A. for decades.”

Trump announced Monday that, on top of the initial 50% tariffs, the U.S. would raise tariffs on all Canadian cars and trucks, automotive parts, and steel to 50% starting Jan. 1, 2027.

U.S. officials, including the President, have also appeared to publicly undermine Canada by repeatedly comparing the country to a U.S. state.

“They feel entitled, but they are not a State, and will be entitled no longer!” Trump repeated Tuesday.

Similarly, Vice President J.D. Vance referred to Canada as a “state” during a political rally in Maine on Monday, which he claimed was a "Freudian slip.”

Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to annex Canada and make it the 51st U.S. state—an idea Carney has strongly rejected.

Why French Language and Culture Became a Sticking Point in U.S.-Canada Talks

Both sides have blamed the other for the breakdown in negotiations over the weekend, but French language and culture have emerged as a contentious point of tension.

Carney said Monday that U.S. negotiators had raised the discoverability of French-language content on streaming platforms, along with French-language labeling rules, as trade irritants.

"For the Americans, French language, francophone culture, Quebec culture, and Canadian culture, for them these are irritants. Here in Quebec, here in Canada, they are rights—fundamental rights,” Carney said in French while taking questions from the media at an event in Lévis, Quebec.

The Canadian leader added that there was “an enormous gap between the U.S. perspective and Canadian perspectives” during negotiations when it came to French culture.

Trump has moved to deny the accusations made by his Canadian counterpart, framing them as a “lie” by Carney to “to gain political support” from those in Quebec.

“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing,” he said on social media Tuesday.

Last year, Quebec implemented a law requiring streaming giants to add French-language content and make it more easily accessible to users. The French-speaking province also has strict labeling rules requiring packaging to include French.

Which Canadian Goods Are Hit by Trump’s 50% Tariffs?

The tariffs placed on various Canadian goods affect around 5% of all trade between Canada and the U.S. and cover a wide range of products.

Although the Administration has framed the tariffs into three categories of alcoholic beverages, dairy products, and motor vehicles, these are far broader than at first glance.

A variety of Canadian alcoholic beverages, including beer made from malt, sparkling wine and other grape wines, and various spirits are the primary target of the first list, but this also includes a range of wood-based goods, such as selected wooden kitchenware and decorative products, as well as ice hockey and field hockey equipment.

The tariffs set to target a variety of dairy ingredients include powdered or otherwise concentrated milk and cream, various milk protein and whey protein concentrates, and lactose and lactose syrup.

The lengthy list of “motor-vehicle” related items includes a variety of products beyond vehicles themselves. The list ranges from agricultural and plant goods, including natural honey, feathers, selected animal products, and plant extracts, to salt and baking mixes.

Textiles and clothing are also set to be hit by the tariffs, including silk, wool, cotton, yarn, fabrics, carpets, dresses, trousers, T-shirts, sweaters, coats, padded jackets, suits, blazers, tracksuits, and even wigs. Tech-related goods are also included, such as smartphones, video recorders, and camera and computer equipment, alongside leisure and cultural products including toys, puzzles, arcade machines, and video game consoles. Other technology products covered include television and radio transmitters, cameras, radar equipment, and computer monitors.

Canada's newly announced counter tariffs are set to target similar products.

Iran has pledged to “attack” the U.S. financially after Washington unveiled a sweeping set of sanctions as part of ‘Economic D-Day',  an attempt to further isolate Tehran and curb its access to the global financial system as the war between the two countries drags on. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled the measures as part of President Donald Trump’s announcement of the "most crushing economic operation" against Tehran, labeled “Operation Economic Outcast.”

"D-Day marked a historic campaign with our allies,” Bessent said Monday. “Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran's financial connections around the globe."

After the measures were announced, Tehran’s Economy Minister Seyed Ali Madanizadeh said the government was prepared to counter the newly-unveiled U.S. sanctions.

“They want to launch an economic terrorist attack against us. We also have our own tools, and we know the rules of this game,” he said in response to Bessent’s announcement during a televised interview with Iranian state media Monday.

“This time, they shouldn't think that our approach is purely defensive; they should also expect an attack from us.”

Although the Iranian minister did not elaborate on what such an attack would entail, he said the country had developed plans in preparation for the economic threats.

“Plans have been developed for various scenarios, including what actions should be taken if they attempt to cause damage in the financial sector or in the country's financial relations,” he said, adding that “the global financial system is not structured in a way that allows anyone to claim they can cut off” Iran’s economy.

During the announcement, Bessent stopped short of immediately imposing secondary sanctions on countries that trade heavily with Iran, instead favoring an approach that would give them time to decouple from that trade.

When asked why he was waiting to impose those sanctions, Bessent responded: "Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?"

“We believe that it is important to level set and give people a cure period, but they should know that that will move very quickly, and that we are serious,” he added.

Bessent did not name any countries that could face sanctions, but said "they know who they are."

China, one of Iran's biggest trading partners and the primary buyer of Iranian oil exports, has already pushed back against the threat.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China-Iran cooperation "should not be disrupted or undermined," noting that it had been conducted in accordance with international law.

“China has made clear on many occasions its firm opposition to illicit unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law or the authorization of the U.N. Security Council. Economic warfare and maximum pressure provide no solution,” Jian said during a press conference Tuesday.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned nearly 60 entities, individuals, and vessels connected to Iran’s regime, while also gaining powers to impose additional sanctions on any person operating within the digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping sectors of the Iranian economy.

Iranian leaders had previously dismissed the impact of extensive economic sanctions on the country and instead sought to highlight struggles within the U.S. economy.

Trump, meanwhile, claimed Monday that Iran is "completely collapsing,” without elaborating on what he based the claim.

Strait of Hormuz attack raises stakes after sanctions announcement

Following Bessent's economic announcement, an oil tanker was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a report by U.K. Maritime Trade Operations.

The incident highlights the continued danger for shipping companies attempting to transit the key waterway, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply passed before the war. The closure of the Strait has rattled energy markets and thrown the global economy into disarray.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi had previously threatened heavy blows against vital U.S. interests and energy chokepoints if Iran’s economy was targeted with sanctions.

"The U.S. President says that he ordered an economic war and launched the most severe economic campaign against Iran,” he said, as reported by Iranian state media Sunday. “We have repeatedly announced that we have scenarios in place for any hostile action by the enemy. One of the enemy’s hostile actions is economic measures and warfare.”

The attack came as a high-level delegation from Pakistan, which has been a key mediator between the United States and Iran, was wrapping up meetings in Tehran aimed, once again, at bringing a return to negotiations and an end to the nearly six-month-old war.

The cease-fire established under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Washington and Tehran expired on Aug. 17, but the agreement had already deteriorated after each side presented differing interpretations of its terms.

Both parties had vied for control of the Strait of Hormuz, eventually leading to tit-for-tat strikes, the reimposition of the American blockade on Iranian ports, and minimal dialogue between Washington and Tehran.

Iran has since released a comprehensive list of demands for the U.S. to meet, which Trump immediately rejected. Both sides have since shown little sign of progress in negotiations, despite relatively limited fighting in recent weeks.