Canada Launches $3.6 Billion Fund to Counter Tariff Damage
[Stay on top of transportation news: .]
Prime Minister Mark Carney rolled out a multi-billion dollar relief package for Canadian businesses battered by tariffs imposed by both the U.S. and China.
Carney said his government will invest C$5 billion ($3.6 billion) through a new fund to help firms adapt, diversify and grow, as well as boost Business Development Bank of Canada loans for small and medium-sized businesses and expand afor tariff-hit large enterprises.
He also said his government would waive 2026 model year vehicles from Canada’s zero-emission standard and review the overall mandate, confirming a Bloomberg Newsreport. The government will provide C$370 million to producers of biofuels such as canola, he added, and amend clean fuel regulations to support the industry.
“We cannot control what other nations do. We can control what we give ourselves — what we build for ourselves,” Carney said in a statement. “In the face of uncertainty around the world, we are ensuring that our workers and businesses will prosper by building Canada’s strength at home.”
Carney’s announcement, which also touted a “Buy Canadian” program for federal procurement, comes hours after fresh data showed Canada’s jobless rate rose to afour-year high. While the trade war with the U.S. is thebiggest dragon economic growth, Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola, seafood and pork are also pummelingkey sectors.
The relief package unveiled on Sept. 5 also included a new reskilling program for up to 50,000 workers. Carney pledged to make employment insurance more flexible and add extended benefits, and to launch a new digital jobs and training platform with private-sector partners.
The country sent 75% of its exports to the U.S. last year. While many Canadian goodscan enterthe U.S. tariff-free if compliant with the North American free trade deal, President Donald Trump’s sectoral levies on steel, aluminum and autos have curtailed shipments and forced job losses.
Carney recently dropped manyretaliatory tariffson U.S. products in order to revive trade talks, but he kept 25% import taxes on U.S. steel and autos in place — though there is anexemptionfor car makers who maintain manufacturing in Canada.
(Bloomberg)
His announcement on Sept. 5 appears to build on an election promise to create a C$2 billionstrategic response fundto support domestic auto manufacturing. He also pledged at the time to build an “all-in-Canada” supply chain for auto parts to limit the number that cross the U.S. border during production.
His government has already unveiled somerelief measuresfor the steel industry, including C$70 million for training and income support for as many as 10,000 workers, and C$1 billion for a fund to help firms advance new projects.
It has also imposedtariff-rate quotasto restrict steel imports from countries with which it doesn’t have a trade deal, and added a 25% surtax on steel products from any country, except for the U.S., that contain steel melted and poured in China.
Still, for some steel producers, Trump’s 50% tariffs have been an outright disaster. Algoma Steel Group Inc., for example, reported a large second-quarter loss and is applying for federal loans. Its share price has tumbled about 50% this year.
Canada’s aluminum sector has also been squeezed by 50% U.S. tariffs, with exports of the metalplunging 31%in July. But the U.S. currently has few domestic sources of aluminum.
China’s tariffs on Canadian sectors are in response to Canada’s decision tojoin the USin imposing levies on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum last year.
Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing belowor go here for more info:
