United States President Donald Trump moved to reimpose 10 percent tariffs on some Canadian aluminium products to protect US industry from a "surge" in imports, angering Ottawa and some US business groups.
During a speech at a Whirlpool Corp washing machine factory in Ohio to tout his "America First" trade agenda, Trump said he signed a proclamation reimposing the "Section 232" national security tariffs.
The US Trade Representative's office said the 10 percent tariffs apply to raw, unalloyed aluminium produced at smelters.
"Several months ago, my administration agreed to lift those tariffs in return for a promise from the Canadian government that its aluminium industry would not flood our country with exports and kill all our aluminium jobs, which is exactly what they've done," Trump said.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the tariffs would hurt workers and regional economies already hit by the coronavirus pandemic and pledged Ottawa would retaliate as it had done in 2018, when Trump first imposed punitive measures on Canadian steel and aluminium.
The Aluminum Association, which says it represents companies that produce 70 percent of the aluminium and aluminium products shipped in North America, said the move undermined the new US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement at a time when year-to-date domestic demand was already down nearly 25 percent.
Michael Bless, chief executive of Century Aluminum, which is one of the few remaining US primary aluminium smelting companies and which lobbied for the tariffs, said the move "helps to secure continued domestic production of this vital strategic material"
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