Trump claims Canada charged 'secret' tariffs nobody knew about

Trump claims Canada charged 'secret' tariffs nobody knew about — here's how the 50% levies hit your wallet

U.S. President Donald Trump has lodged a new complaint about Canada: that the country imposed secret tariffs he says only he knew about.

On Oct. 5, a reporter outside the White House asked whether he'd restart trade talks between the two nations before the U.S. midterm elections. Trump answered that Canada "behaves very badly with the United States, and I don't know. Uh, we've caught them in the act. They charged us a lot of tariffs that nobody knew about — except me."

He didn't mention any specific levies. Canada's own counter-tariffs are hardly clandestine, since the Department of Finance has published the full product list online.

More important for your finances was Trump's remark during the same impromptu presser that he's "in no rush" to try and solve the situation. As a result, tariffs on both sides of the border may be around for the foreseeable future, and that will shape how you spend, budget and borrow.

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On Aug. 22, after deliberations between the two neighbouring nations fell by the wayside, the U.S. placed a 50% tariff on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods. Canada retaliated on Sept. 8, matching it dollar for dollar. Instead of a sweeping 50%, It imposed levies of 15%, 25% or 50% on a large swath of U.S.-origin products, depending on the item.

The list leans heavily industrial, but it also reaches everyday items including:

One key detail: the surtax doesn't apply to goods that have only shipped through the U.S.

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How much could this add to your bills?

Ali Jaffery, chief economist at KPMG Canada, told The Globe and Mail that 80% of the tariffs target industrial inputs, while the remainder centre on consumer goods, a split that should keep the inflation impact muted. Even so, Jaffery expects directly targeted consumer products to rise 1% to 1.5% in price over the next six months if the tariffs stay in place.

Those increases land on top of inflation that's already running hot. Statistics Canada reported that consumer prices rose 3% year over year in August, which is directly tied to rising fuel costs due to the Iran war.