Canada is the latest country to join in on the tariff battle against the United States as it imposed retaliatory tariffs last Friday in response to U.S. duties on steel and aluminum, causing most Canada-focused ETFs to open on the downside in the early going of Monday’s trading session.
Related: Dow Drops Over 100 Points at Market Open Amid Canada Tariffs
iShares MSCI Canada ETF (NYSEArca: EWC) opened down 1.37 percent, Invesco CurrencyShares Canadian Dollar (NYSEArca: FXC) was down 0.41 percent, SPDR MSCI Canada StrategicFactors ETF (NYSEArca: QCAN) was the only Canada ETF to open in the green–up 0.6 percent , and Invesco Canadian Energy Income ETF (NYSEArca: ENY) opened down at 0.87 percent.
The retaliatory tariffs affected a wide range of U.S. products, including chocolate, ketchup, yogurt, beef, caffeinated roasted coffee, orange juice, maple syrup, salad dressing and soups. That represents just a modicum of the full list published by Canada’s Department of Finance.
“I have made it very clear to the president that it is not something we relish doing but it is something that we absolutely will do,” said Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “[As] Canadians, we’re polite, we’re reasonable but we also will not be pushed around.”
Mexico Counteracts with Own Tariffs
The U.S. duties on steel and aluminum prompted Mexico to impose their own retaliatory tariffs by slapping a 20 percent duty on pork, including an additional 10 percent on unprocessed pork. More than $1 billion in U.S. pork products were exported to Mexico in 2017, but a combination of rising tensions over the border wall and other issues has caused Mexico to look to other sources of key agricultural and food products, including pork, soybeans and corn.
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