As Canada grappled with shifting U.S. tariffs last week, China added to the pressure over the March 8 weekend, slapping new tariffs on Canadian agricultural and food products effective later this month.

Joe Biden maintained Trump's tariffs on China during his presidential term, and in some areas expanded them.

In Trump's second term, amid the chaos of his on-again, off-again tariffs on Canada and Mexico, the only country-specific tariffs that have gone through without change have been the ones on China.

Canada announced further retaliatory measures against the United States on March 12, targeting C$29.8 billion worth of U.S. goods, the same day the United States went ahead with 25 percent tariffs on aluminum and steel from all countries, including Canada.

"Beyond friendship and our economic partnership, we are steadfast partners on the world stage -- which is ever more important these days, given the increasingly aggressive behaviour of certain international actors, including China," Wilkinson said on Jan. 15.

Some Canadian premiers have used even stronger words.

"If Mexico won't fight transshipment by, at the very least, matching Canadian and American tariffs on Chinese imports, they shouldn't have a seat at the table or enjoy access to the largest economy in the world," Ford said.

B.C. Premier David Eby on March 10 asked Ottawa to revisit its tariff policies, saying Canada's tariffs on China "to curry favour" with Trump have not been effective. He said China's tariffs are having a major impact on his province, and asked Ottawa to take action to ensure Canada doesn't get "crushed" between the American and Chinese economies.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe noted that Ottawa has taken a number of measures to counter the U.S. tariffs, without saying he necessarily endorses them, and asked why the federal government isn't responding to China's tariffs which he said disproportionately impact the Western provinces.

"Whether or not you agree with the federal govt's response to US trade actions, there is no doubt they have taken action and reacted quickly, as they should," he wrote. "But when it's an exclusively western Canadian industry like canola under attack from Chinese tariffs... crickets."

So far, neither Trudeau nor Carney have commented on the China tariffs.

However, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne has said Canada will keep its tariffs on Chinese EVs as well as steel and aluminum.

Champagne narrowed the scope of his response specifically to the previously announced Canadian tariffs on China, saying, "not with respect to the tariffs."

"We would never be a back door to cheap Chinese vehicle which are overly subsidized and where they don't respect labour law and environmental laws," he said. "They're dumping, you know, steel in North America and you see these cheap vehicles coming here."

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said Canada needs to diversify its markets.

China previously put bans on several Canadian imports in 2019 after the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition request in December 2018. The bans were eventually lifted in 2022 following the release of Meng in 2021, with China also releasing two Canadian citizens it had detained in apparent retaliation.