26 August 2026 – Canada announced yesterday that it intends to respond with countermeasures from 8 September to the US Section 338 tariffs, which have been applied for the first time. More than 870 products are to be subjected to new tariffs. Indonesian confusion over nickel quotas: one producer reports higher quotas, while the industry association says it knows nothing about them.
Canada Retaliates Against the First Ever Use of US Section 338 Tariffs
President Trump signed three proclamations under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 on 20 July 2026, imposing additional tariffs of 50 per cent on selected imports from Canada. It is the first ever use of this legal basis.
The original implementation date of 19 August was suspended at short notice for three days, after which talks in Washington failed. Prime Minister Carney withdrew the negotiating team, and the tariffs entered into force on 22 August 2026.
Canada’s Countermeasures from 8 September
According to Ottawa, Canada is responding “dollar for dollar” to US tariffs covering USD 27.6 billion in trade. The countermeasures will affect US imports of the same value and will apply from 8 September 2026. The main targets include certain metal products, dairy products, household appliances, agricultural machinery, pulp and paper, plastics and electronics. The list published on 25 August covers 874 tariff lines, with rates of up to 50 per cent, mirroring the respective US rate.
The White House responded with a list of areas in which it says Canada is harming the US economy.
There is no foreseeable end to the conflict between the two economically closely intertwined neighbours, which has been escalating for months.
Not Protection, but War Without Gunpowder
The current US administration makes one thing very clear: what so called market protection is really about. It is never about protection. It is nothing more than war without gunpowder.
Market protection, or, as with Europe’s carbon border tax CBAM, the use of a green idea as a pretext, is the fig leaf of a policy that can no longer focus on what it should actually be doing: genuine diplomacy and constructive negotiations. All that remains is mutual battering.
We wish to make it absolutely clear: This is not a criticism of the Trump administration alone. In fact, we are grateful to it for this clear communication. It illustrates exactly how politicians have been operating in general for several years now, and to an increasing extent.
We continue to categorically reject trade barriers, tariffs, and other crap that restricts free global trade and, consequently, free entrepreneurship.
The Nickel-Quota Farce in Indonesia
A manufacturer reports higher quotas, but the association says it knows nothing about it
During its H1 earnings call, Nickel Industries stated that its own RKAB quota had been increased from 9 million to 14.3 million tonnes, and that a decision on a further application for an increase was expected in the coming weeks. One day earlier, the APNI industry association said that its members had received no revisions at all. The Minerba Directorate speaks of “some” approved companies, without providing a number.
One statement stands against a denial, and to this day nobody has quantified the total volume of the revision round. That is precisely where the uncertainty lies for ore supply in the fourth quarter and for the NPI cost curve.
How Rumors Are Used to Influence the Market
What is happening here is all too familiar from European trade defence proceedings. Half truths and lies are deliberately fed into the market in order to influence other market participants or manipulate them in a particular direction. The best examples are the anti circumvention investigation into Indonesian stainless steel, or, more recently, the new EU steel tariffs and quotas.
There are always rumours in advance. There is always disruption. In the end, the actual outcomes have often looked very different. And afterwards, the courage to admit it is missing.
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