Canada Tariffs Target Wisconsin

According to WisContext, "Let’s keep a good thing growing!" declares a 2017 fact sheet in which the Canadian government’s agriculture agency touts the nation’s trade relationship with Wisconsin. Indeed, Canada is the United States’ largest trading partner, and the biggest destination by far for exported goods from Wisconsin. Between 2008 and 2017, the state’s exports to Canada have averaged about $6.85 billion per year, while imports from the US’s northern neighbor have averaged around $4.1 billion annually.

But as the Trump administration ignites trade wars around the globe, Canada is fanning the flames, and has clearly done its homework on Wisconsin. After the US announced new tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum products in May 2018, Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on dozens of American goods. Using categories from the World Customs Organization’s Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System — which attempts to give nations and businesses across a global marketplace a common nomenclature for thousands of types of products — Canada not only targeted US steel and aluminum, but also a host of agricultural, food, paper and chemical goods.