American live streaming companies are being unfairly targeted by new Canadian fees that "disproportionately" serve interests north of the border, according to the United States.

This week, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission directed foreign broadcasters such as Netflix and Spotify to allocate five percent of their Canadian revenues towards local news and Canadian content.

Members of the U.S. Congress and business organizations raised concerns about this mandate, saying it represents discrimination against American companies.

Some organizations are suggesting the idea of retaliation.

The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa stated that it is closely monitoring developments regarding the online streaming law. The new fees were imposed as part of a regulatory process to implement legislation from the Liberal government.

A government spokesperson said in a statement: "The United States shares with Canada interests in strong audiovisual and news industries, but the (online streaming law) appears to target American companies to disproportionately serve the interests of large Canadian corporations."

"We encourage Canada to consider input from American stakeholders as it implements this legislation."

The legislation, which was approved in Parliament just over a year ago, seeks to level the playing field between tech giants and traditional broadcasters, who are already contributing significant amounts to Canadian content.

The new fees are expected to inject about $200 million into the Canadian broadcasting system each year.

Tiffany Smith, Vice President of the National Foreign Trade Council, said the federal regulator is downplaying the investment that American production companies are already spending on television and film in Canada.

She stated that this includes technology transfer and education "to help build" the Canadian cultural industries.

Smith added that American companies are now required to increase "funding the work of people in another country, which is one of our closest allies and trading partners."

"This is really a brave new world we are looking at regarding looking to foreign companies to ensure programs that have traditionally been funded by the Canadian government."

The American Chamber of Commerce stated in a statement that the fees risk restricting cross-border trade with the United States, a point also raised by a bipartisan group in Congress.

Smith said there are provisions in the trade agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico that could enable the United States to retaliate and seek compensation if it tended to do so, "now, what any government will do, I'm not in a position to comment on that."

Trade Minister Mary Ng has insisted throughout the legislative and regulatory process that the bill is in compliance with trade.

A spokesperson for the United States Trade Representative stated that the office is reviewing the regulations and will continue conversations with Canadians.

Members of Parliament in the House of Commons Trade Committee are expected to hear concerns about Canada's latest move on Thursday.

The CEO of the Digital Media Association, which represents Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube, is set to testify.

Prepared remarks for Graham Davies, obtained by the Canadian press, indicated that he would argue that the fees undermine investments that American broadcasters are already making in the Canadian music industry "and could also have unintended consequences for consumers, especially younger Canadians who are the primary users of Canadian music streaming services."

The speaker's notes stated: "Overall, rising costs can lead to higher prices, and we have not identified anything in the new regulations to alleviate the impact of this economic rule."