Kickstart: Canada's retaliatory tariffs and plastic products

The United States' trade war with its neighbors has created a lot of chaos, confusion and some backtracking as President Donald Trump granted relief for U.S. automakers then postponed the 25 percent tariff on Mexico and eventually Canada — as of early afternoon on March 6. (Don't be surprised if there's another change by the time you read this on March 7.)

But it's important to note that trade includes border crossings in each direction. Canada has been quick with a wide-ranging list of its own tariffs on U.S.-made products, although those likely will be suspended for as long as the U.S maintains its hold on tariffs. Jack Daniels whiskey has been the poster child for retaliatory action by Canadian governments, with a 25 percent tariff on a national level while some provinces and retailers completely pulled it and other American spirits from shelves.

The full list of 1,256 items explicitly targeted by new Canadian tariffs covers a range of items involving plastics: vinyl flooring, siding, windows, trim and fencing; baths, shower stalls and toilet seats; home appliances; furniture; tableware and kitchenware; closures and caps; sacks and bags; and bottled water and other beverages.

"These countermeasures are effective as of 12:01 a.m., March 4, 2025, and will remain in place until the U.S. eliminates its tariffs against Canadian goods," the Department of Finance Canada says on its website.

It's more expensive to buy almost any drink in Quebec packaged in plastic due to a 10-cent deposit now placed on all plastic bottles ranging in size from 100 milliliters to 2 liters.

But the provincial government isn't singling out plastics.

Quebec required a 10-cent deposit on all aluminum beverage cans as of 2023. The March 1 expansion to all plastic ready-to-drink beverage containers — including water, sparkling water, spirits and juice — will be followed by a requirement for a 10-cent deposit on all glass beverage containers in March 2027, says Consignaction, the organization overseeing the project.

"Deposit refund ensures better performance than any other materials-recovery method, since all recovered beverage containers are 100 percent recycled," Consignaction notes on its website. "When people return containers, they are also helping to reduce the impacts of climate change by lessening reliance on raw materials extraction to manufacture new containers."

Funds raised through the program will modernize Quebec's recycling systems and prompt a higher return rate for containers that can then be recycled.

Canadians also are talking blizzards this month. Not the kind featuring snow and winds, but instead those served up by Dairy Queen along with a red plastic spoon.

In a marketing campaign, Dairy Queen Canada has placed massive replicas of those spoons in snowbanks. Each 7-foot spoon handle has a QR code ice cream fans can scan for a chance to win DQ Blizzards — ice cream with mix-ins such as cookies and candy — for a year, our sister paper Advertising Age writes.

The location of each oversized spoon is a secret, but hints are being released on social media. The marketing ploy may be the first time that people are looking forward to seeing foodservice utensils in the melting remnants of winter snow.