Welcome to Canada Tariff News and Tracker, listeners, where we break down the latest on US tariffs hitting our borders. As we kick off 2026, the US and Canada are ramping up talks to renew the USMCA, the key deal shielding us from Trump's tariff barrage, with formal negotiations set to restart right after the holidays, according to GetTransport.com.
Trump's tariffs are reshaping trade, averaging over 10% across the board—up from just 2% at the start of 2025—per Export Development Canada, and Canada faces specific hits like 25% on most goods not meeting USMCA rules of origin, 10% on energy and potash, plus 35% on many items under an August 2025 executive order, as detailed in Sullivan & Cromwell's Tariffs Tracker. Steel and aluminum now carry 50% duties after exemptions vanished, while softwood lumber sits at 10% and wood products like kitchen cabinets and upholstered furniture hold at 25%, with planned hikes to 30% and 50% delayed until at least 2027, reports Tax and Trade Law and Retail TouchPoints.
Key flashpoints include US demands to open Canada's dairy markets, lift alcohol trade bans, scrap digital streaming taxes on firms like Netflix, and secure critical minerals access—issues Canada, led by Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Prime Minister Mark Carney, is tackling head-on amid Trump's belligerence, notes Global News and The Logic. Cautious optimism surrounds steel and aluminum tariff cuts, but dairy and digital levies look stalled.
The Canadian dollar strengthened 5% against the USD in 2025 despite the chaos, and analysts at Morningstar forecast further gains in 2026 unless USMCA talks sour, buoyed by Bank of Canada policy. Meanwhile, Canada fights back, tightening steel import quotas and slapping a 25% surtax on derivatives since late December, via BDO insights. Manitoulin warns this year's CUSMA renegotiation is our bulwark against escalating Trump tariffs.
Stay vigilant, listeners—these talks will dictate freight costs, exports, and our economy. Thanks for tuning in to Canada Tariff News and Tracker—subscribe now for weekly updates. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.
For more check out https://www.quietperiodplease.com/
Avoid ths tariff fee's and check out these deals https://amzn.to/4iaM94Q
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.