What goes into crafting retaliatory tariffs that can ‘inflict damage’?

Canada could impose retaliatory tariffs against the United States in response to Donald Trump's economic threat. Experts say they could target industries in Republican states.

With just days to go before Donald Trump becomes U.S. president once again, Ottawa has been looking at a list of options that could face retaliatory tariffs if he imposes 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian goods.

Reports of the potential list began emerging in media reports citing sources in November. In recent days, Canadian outlets including Global News confirmed that there are a range of items currently being considered.

Among those are items like orange juice from Florida and steel from Michigan and Pennsylvania, but those are a small number of examples on the extensive list being considered, Global News has learned.

Experts say a proportional response from Canada to whatever is imposed by Trump is looking likely.

“For sure we’re going to have tariffs imposed on us by the Trump administration. The question now is how long will they last? Canada’s probably going to retaliate because they need to be seen to be doing something,” said Moshe Lander, an economist at Concordia University.

The 2024 Fall Economic Statement, tabled in December after Trump made his threat of tariffs, said Canada’s international trade policy will focus on reciprocity, which “will be considered as a requirement for all federal spending and policies.”

Jack Cunningham, assistant professor at Trinity College at the University of Toronto, said Canada has many cards it could play and retaliate with “relative ease,” but said the key was to make sure Canada’s own economy wasn’t hurt in the process.

He said while the logic of tariffs is to minimize damage on one’s own economy, that is challenging to do with the deep U.S.-Canada trade ties.