You’re listening to Canada Tariff News and Tracker, your focused update on how tariff politics are reshaping Canada’s economy and its relationship with a second Trump administration in Washington.

Let’s start with the big structural shift on our side of the border. According to a December backgrounder from Canada’s Department of Finance, Ottawa is moving ahead with a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on a broad range of steel derivative products, effective December 26, 2025. The measure covers everything from iron and steel structures, bridge sections, towers and lattice masts, to nails, screws, bolts, chains, springs, metal furniture, and even certain prefabricated steel buildings. The tariff applies to imports from all countries, with narrow exemptions for items used in vehicle and aircraft manufacturing, some energy projects, and goods already in transit. Finance Canada says remissions will be considered case by case where domestic supply is not available or where the duty would cause “severe adverse impacts” on the Canadian economy.

International partners are already pushing back. Korea JoongAng Daily reports that South Korea’s trade minister raised formal concerns with his Canadian counterpart over what Seoul calls stronger safeguard measures on steel. Under Canada’s new plan, tariff rate quotas for free trade agreement partners, including Korea, are being cut from 100 per cent to 75 per cent of 2024 levels. Once Korean exporters ship more steel than their quota allows, those excess volumes face a punishing 50 per cent tariff. Korean officials warn this could hurt not only their mills, but Canadian sectors that rely on Korean steel for pipelines and energy infrastructure, and both countries have agreed to set up a new dialogue channel to manage the fallout.

Now to the Canada–US story in the Trump era. According to the independent EH Newsmagazine, the United States earlier this year imposed a sweeping 35 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods, on top of sector-specific duties including a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian metals and a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian agricultural products. The outlet reports that the move has triggered a sharp backlash among Canadians, including a boycott of travel to the US that is estimated to have cost the American tourism sector roughly 5.7 billion US dollars in lost revenue. The report underscores how quickly consumer sentiment can turn when tariffs hit close to home, and how a policy meant to protect US producers is rippling back onto US border communities, hotels, and retail.

In Washington, commentators aligned with the administration argue these tariffs are a necessary reset after years of trade deficits and offshoring. Economist Daniel Lacalle, writing about Trump-era policy, has previously emphasized that higher tariffs did not produce a runaway inflation spike in aggregate prices, framing them instead as part of a broader reindustrialization and debt-correction strategy. That line is now being used again by supporters of the new tariff wave, even as local Democrats in places like Yuma, Arizona, tell public radio station KAWC that Trump’s tariff agenda is “raising costs for residents,” especially during the holiday season, and squeezing cross-border trade with Canada and Mexico.

For Canada, the challenge is managing a double squeeze: defending its own steel sector with new 25 per cent duties and tighter quotas, while absorbing the shock of aggressive US tariffs on virtually every Canadian export category. That means Canadian policymakers are walking a tightrope between retaliation, targeted relief for domestic industries, and efforts to keep cross-border supply chains from unraveling.

We’ll keep tracking the moving pieces: new tariff announcements in Ottawa and Washington, sector-by-sector impacts on Canadian steel, autos, agriculture, and tourism, and how politics under President Trump is reshaping the economic map of North America for Canadian businesses and households.

Thanks for tuning in to Canada Tariff News and Tracker, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an update.

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