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US President Donald Trump unveiled 50 per cent tariffs on a wide range of imports from Canada on Monday in response to what the US administration called its discriminatory treatment of American-made cars, alcohol and dairy goods, threatening a new front in a global trade war.
In slapping import taxes on goods ranging from wine to cement and ice hockey gear, Trump invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which permits a president to impose punitive tariffs of up to 50pc against trading partners deemed to have discriminated against US goods.
That marked the law’s first known usage in nearly a century of existence.
The new tariffs, set to take effect in 30 days, would also apply to dairy products, swimming pools, furniture, fishing rods, seeds, clothing and wigs, among other items.
