Canada hopes to avert new U.S. tariff war, but stands ready to fire: Champagne

Canada's foreign affairs minister says the federal government is still trying to cool its dispute with the United States over aluminum exports, but remains poised to retaliate if necessary.

Francois-Philippe Champagne says he believes the standoff is an opportunity to figure out new ways to bring manufacturing back to life across North America.

But in the short term, Champagne says, Canada is fully prepared to impose dollar-for-dollar countermeasures against U.S.-made aluminum and products that contain it, beginning Wednesday.

The Trump administration imposed the new national-security tariffs last month after complaints from two U.S. smelting operations that Canada was violating the terms of a 2019 agreement between the two countries.

Canadian officials are still working to avoid having to impose retaliatory tariffs, he suggested, even as Canada's original Wednesday deadline looms large.

"Obviously, we're going to continue to negotiate. But we're going to be prepared to react as we did last time."