Canada targets US auto imports amid trade tensions

Canada has escalated its trade conflict with the United States by slapping a 25 percent tariff on US-made vehicles, a defensive move that one expert says could hurt both economies.

Ottawa's response to a 25 percent US tariff on imported vehicles could trigger a fresh round of trade tensions between the countries, according to Julian Karaguesian, an economics professor at McGill University, who said Canada had to react to avoid being "just be an easy target".

Karaguesian, who served as a special adviser on international trade and finance to the Canadian Ministry of Finance, said there's a political argument for retaliation, but it comes with risks. "Canada's economy is highly integrated with the US, and an extended trade war would damage both," he told China Daily.