Canada should retaliate proposed tariffs by going to WTO: trade expert

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If Canada ends up being included in planned U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel, one international trade expert say Canada should not- and likely will not- impose retaliatory measures without authorization.

Werner Antweiler, Professor of Economics at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, says like the U.S., Canada is a member of various trade agreements, and he thinks Canada will stick to the procedures offered through them.

“The fact that one country is playing fast and lose with the rules doesn’t mean that other countries should too,” he says.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland used strong words when she threatened retaliation on Monday after it was revealed that the U.S. intends to include Canada in the tariffs.

Challenging the tariffs through the World Trade Organization, Antweiler says, would be the best course of action for Canada, and he has little doubt Canada would win.

“The U.S administration is trying to bend the rules and it’s trying to use an invalid backdoor, based on national security concerns that are completely fictional to impose these measures,” he says.

“What’s coming now out of Washington is basically this approach ‘well we want you to sign a new NAFTA agreement so we’re going to threaten you with all these kinds of measures.'”

If the WTO sided with Canada, and the U.S. refused to get rid of the tariffs, we would then be authorized to impose retaliatory measures.

“Steel would be one area because we are importing a whole lot of steel from the United States,” Antweiler says “But there could also be very strategic, other areas that we target that would hurt particular industries in those states that matter to Mr. Trump more than others.”

The process would take several months though, but Antweiler says Canada should stick to the rules and procedures because that’s what we’ve agreed to do.