Canada responds to American tariffs: counter-tariffs on 27.6 billion in goods from September 8

This is a story the morning edition did not cover: the Economy section dealt with US stock markets on August 25. In those same hours, in Ottawa, the Canadian government was detailing its response to the American tariffs that took effect on Saturday, August 22.

The measure

On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, Canada announced counter-tariffs on American goods worth 27.6 billion Canadian dollars, effective from 00:01 on September 8. The rates are three — 15, 25 or 50 percent — depending on the products, listed in a table from the federal Department of Finance counting 874 items, as reported by Radio-Canada on the department’s announcement.

The selection criterion is the central point, and it is no coincidence: the countermeasures hit only products already subject to US surtaxes. In other words, Ottawa is not opening new fronts, but responding on those already opened by the other side. Steel and aluminum will be taxed at 50 percent in both directions starting September 8.

The choice was presented at a press conference by federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who according to the account by Le Devoir explained how Canada’s counter-tariffs are designed primarily to protect the industrial sectors hit by American tariffs — a defensive formulation, not a punitive one.

The proportions

Item	Figure
American goods hit by countermeasures	27.6 billion Canadian dollars
Product items in the department’s table	874
Rates applied	15%, 25%, 50%
Effective date	September 8, 00:01
Canadian goods hit by US tariffs at 50%	approximately 28 billion dollars
Support announced for businesses and workers	7.5 billion dollars

The two volumes are nearly identical: 27.6 billion against approximately 28. It is a constructed symmetry, and it says something about the Canadian strategy — responding in equivalent measure, not greater, and confining the scope to sectors already in conflict.

The government also announced support measures worth 7.5 billion dollars for workers and businesses affected by the dispute: a figure worth just over a quarter of the value of the goods involved, signaling the expectation of a conflict that will not be brief.

The precedent Ottawa cites

In the account reported by La Presse, the reference is to the first counter-tariffs on steel and aluminum in spring 2025: after their introduction, Canadian imports of those American products had fallen by 30 percent.

This is the data that explains the logic of the tool. A counter-tariff serves less to collect revenue than to shift purchases toward domestic suppliers or third-country suppliers. The 30 percent decline measures the responsiveness of Canadian demand to customs price increases; it says nothing, however, about how much that substitution cost purchasing businesses in terms of price or supply times.

What remains open

It is not known which sectors fall into each of the three rate brackets without consulting the department’s full table. It is not known whether Washington is preparing a response to the countermeasures, nor whether the two parties have negotiating channels open before September 8. The criteria for accessing the 7.5 billion in support are not public.

There is only one operative date: September 8 at 00:01, when steel and aluminum will be taxed at 50 percent in both directions. From that moment, the symmetry stops being a political choice and becomes a cost on both sides of the border.