Trade Cases
Freeland: No Timeline for U.S. Removal of Section 232
Written by Tim Triplett
October 23, 2018
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says it would be in the best interest of both Canada and the United States to lift tariffs the countries now impose on each other, but she offered no timeline on when that might occur.
Responding to a press question yesterday on the prospects that the U.S. Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum might be lifted soon, Freeland reiterated Canada’s view of the tariffs. “We believe these measures to be unjustified and illegal, and that is why we are challenging them at the WTO…. That is why Canada imposed July 1 a measured dollar-for-dollar retaliatory response.
“We also think that it is overwhelmingly in the best interest of both Canada and the United States for these reciprocal tariffs to be lifted,” she added. “It is certainly reasonable to think that with…the agreement in principal around the new trade deal, that positive momentum should bring Canada and the United States to simply say it is time to lift these tariffs.” But she did not speculate on when that might happen.
Tim Triplett
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