METRO DETROIT (WXYZ) — With trade talks collapsing between the United States and Canada, new tariffs are sure to impact prices of items you rely on.
Cross-border trade and our ties to our northern neighbors are now fractured, as President Trump's 50 percent tariffs on Canada took effect Saturday morning, covering $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Canada's prime minister is retaliating, announcing tariffs set to take effect in a few weeks.
This trade war is definitely going to hurt quite a few businesses. In fact, one Canadian business we spoke to over the weekend said they may have take their products overseas.
Watch Ryan Marshall's report below
Watch our previous coverage
The tariffs were initially scheduled to start last Wednesday. However, there was a three-day pause to iron out what was supposed to be final details of an agreement. If you recall, President Trump went on Truth Social last week and said that a deal was already done, pending final documents. But now, instead of a fresh deal, there's fresh anger from the Canadian government. Prime Minister Mark Carney said he will now impose dollar-for-dollar retaliatory counter-tariffs on the United States, beginning on Tuesday, September 8.
Those counter-tariffs will target steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp, paper and electronics. Local experts and Canadian businesses are weighing in on the fallout of this escalating trade war.
“There’s a lot of items impacted by the tariffs, for us specially at Great Pretenders, the main thing is children’s dresses and certain capes," said Lukas Schieck, a Strategy Manager with Great Pretenders, a company that designs costumes for kids. “Take the Canadian manufactured product and move it oversees is probably the immediate consideration.”
“The amount of trade that flows back and fourth between the Michigan and the Canadian border employs hundreds of thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Michiganders," said Sandy K. Baruah, the CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber.
The U.S. says the tariffs only affect five percent of total Canadian exports and have maintained that they are trying to encourage businesses and consumers to buy American.
