Canada has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO), asking it to dispute consultations with the U.S. regarding the tariffs on certain aluminum and steel products coming from Ottawa.
The WTO said the request was circulated to the trade body members on Thursday.
Canada said in the filing that Washington’s levies terminated the nation’s exemption from additional tariffs on certain steel and aluminum products and increased levies on aluminum that went into effect on Wednesday, a move that is “inconsistent with U.S. obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994.”
This is the second complaint Canada has filed with the WTO this month. The first one, which was circulated among WTO members on March 5, came as President Trump’s administration slapped 25 percent tariffs on goods coming from Canada and Mexico, along with a 10 percent levy on Chinese products.
In the initial complaint with the WTO, Canada argued that the U.S. tariffs were in breach of the GATT and the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement.
The Trump administration has implemented 25 percent tariffs on all aluminum and steel imports coming into the U.S. Ottawa fired back, slapping $20.7 billion in retaliatory tariffs on aluminum, steel and other items.
Canada is the U.S.’s biggest aluminum and steel supplier.
The European Union (EU) also swiftly sprung into action, vowing a two-step retaliation approach.
The 27-member bloc said it would permit the suspension of current 2018 and 2020 countermeasures versus the U.S. to expire on April 1. The trading bloc is also readying a new set of countermeasures on items coming from the U.S. that will be implemented in mid-April, totaling around $28 billion.
Trump also warned the EU on Thursday that if the bloc does not remove the current tariff on whiskey, the president would impose a 200 percent tariff on wine, Champagne and other alcohol imports from Europe.
The commander-in-chief told reporters in the White House on Thursday that his mind is unchanged on tariffs.
“We’ve been ripped off for years and we’re not going to be ripped off anymore. I’m not going to bend at all, aluminum or steel or cars,” Trump said.
