Canada has retaliated against new US tariffs with retaliatory import duties of its own - after threatening an "existential threat" from its neighbor.
US President Donald Trump has slapped 25% tariffs on goods coming into the US from Canada and Mexico - which took effect overnight - and raised a tariff on goods coming from China.
Canada retaliated with tariffs on tens of billions of dollars' worth of US imports. Its provincial leaders have proposed going even further.
Trump claims to be defending US jobs and industry, and attempting to stem illegal immigration and the flow of drugs. But experts contend that he is certain to drive up prices for US consumers as well as worldwide.
The three nations that are being targeted are America's largest trading partners, and the tit-for-tat actions also raised concerns of a broader trade war.
Tariffs are a charge on imports from other nations, intended to shield against lower-priced competition elsewhere and support local businesses and jobs.
Besides the 25% tariffs on goods coming in from Canada and Mexico, Trump is also imposing a 10% tariff on Canadian energy.
Trump's advisors have described tariffs as a central bargaining chip. The US president is keen to shut down the potent opioid fentanyl, and has variously blamed the other nations for the presence of the drug in the US.
A statement by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated there was "no justification" for the new US tariffs, since less than 1% of the fentanyl seized at the US border originated in Canada.
Trudeau also said his nation had acted to further restrict the flow of the drug over a month-long period when Trump's new tariffs were suspended.
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Looking ahead to the commencement of the new US tariffs, Trudeau's declaration described Canada's response - where a 25% tariff will be levied on C$155bn (US$107bn; £84bn) worth of US goods:
A tariff on C$30bn of products will come into effect right away
Tariffs on the remaining C$125bn on US products will come into effect in 21 days' time
Previously on Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly informed journalists that Trump's tariffs posed an "existential threat to us," since the jobs were at stake.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller cautioned that up to a million Canadian jobs hung in the balance if the tariffs came into force, considering how interdependent trade between the two nations was.
"We can't substitute an economy that accounts for 80% of our trade overnight and it's going to sting," he told the AFP news agency on Monday.
In a conversation with the AFP news agency, a factory worker at a car manufacturing facility in the Ontario province of Canada said individuals were indeed "pretty scared" of losing their jobs. "I just purchased my first home," Joel Soleski explained. "I may have to seek employment elsewhere."
The industry is one which could be severely hit by the new tariffs regime in North America. Car components could travel across US/Canadian border multiple times while being manufactured, and thus could be taxed on multiple occasions.
