Washington ups the ante in trade confrontation with Canada

Another salvo has been fired in the continuing trade dispute between Canada and the United States.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Tuesday that–beginning immediately–it will collect 24.38 per cent cash deposits on imports of welded large from Canada.

The imports were valued at about $234 million CAD U.S. ($180 USD) in 2017.

The figure is a drop in the financial bucket in overall trade between the two countries, which totalled an estimated $673.1 billion USD in 2017, but serves an another example of deteriorating relations between the two sides as they attempt to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement, which also includes Mexico.

The decision has been brewing since February when Washington announced an investigation into whether imports of large-diameter welded pipe from Canada, China, Greece, India, Korea and Turkey were being dumped in the U.S. after receiving unfair subsidies.

The president of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, Joe Galimberti, called Tuesday’s announcement “disappointing” but added that only one company–the Canadian arm of U.S.-based Evraz North–manufactures large-diameter welded pipe in Canada.

A spokesperson for Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says Global Affairs Canada is monitoring the situation.

Canada-U.S. trade is second largest in the world after China and the United States and Canada has traditionally held a trade deficit with the U.S in every year since 1985.

However, U.S President Donald J. Trump continues to insist that Canada is taking advantage of the U.S while Canadian figures show Canada running a deficit every year since 1985.

Final duties for Canada are scheduled to be announced in January.

The amount of duties against other countries announced Tuesday range from 3.45 per cent for Turkey to more than 132 per cent for China.

With files from CBC, CTV, CP, Global News, Toronto Star