(Ottawa) Canada warns the United States: Ottawa is set to publish in the coming days a list of American products that could be subject to tariffs if the issue of the green vehicle tax credit assembled in the United States is not resolved.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and International Trade Minister Mary Ng wrote to prominent lawmakers in the U.S. Congress on Friday warning them that Canada is plotting retaliatory measures.
“We are preparing to publish in the next few days a list of US products that could be subject to Canadian tariffs if this issue is not satisfactorily resolved. The retaliatory measures that we are proposing will extend to sectors other than that of the automobile ”, they warned in this letter.
Ministers reiterate that the generous tax credit of up to $ 12,500 that United States President Joe Biden wishes to offer on the purchase of zero-emission vehicles assembled in the United States violates the Canada Accord. -United States-Mexico. This provision is contained in the bill Build Back Better Act, which was recently approved in the House of Representatives.
This issue being “Canada’s priority in its relationship with the United States”, the Canadian government urges “to ensure that the Build Back Better Act is not discriminatory against Canada”, pleaded the two ministers, assuring nonetheless that they did not wish to “embark on the path of confrontation” with Washington.
But in this case, as in that of steel and aluminum, Ottawa “will defend its national interests”, and “will have no other choice but to react forcefully by initiating a dispute settlement procedure under the ‘Agreement and tariffs on US exports in a way that will impact US workers in the auto industry and several other sectors of the US economy,’ said Mmy Freeland and Ng.
They follow up with another threat, notably “to suspend the tariff rate quotas for dairy products set by the Agreement and to postpone the implementation of the copyright changes provided for by the Agreement”.