Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday announced retaliatory tariffs on the US, after walking away from a “bad deal” on trade in a deepening rift between the longtime allies.
Negotiations between the neighboring countries broke down on Friday in Washington, putting into force new 50 percent US tariffs impacting about US$20 billion worth of goods, or 5.5 percent of Canadian exports to the US.
Impacted products range from hockey sticks to cement.
Photo: Reuters
“You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked,” Carney said.
US President Donald Trump yesterday hit back at Canada.
“Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“They have also charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of Tariffs. No more!!!” he added.
New Canadian tariffs would notably target the US steel and dairy industries and take effect on Sept. 8.
More details would come this week, Carney said.
Trump had previously said Washington “should be able to have a deal with Canada,” citing his “good relationship” with Carney, but on Saturday, the prime minister said Trump set conditions that were ultimately unacceptable even though earlier talks had been positive.
“In recent days, the United States proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair and undermined the net benefits for Canada, and called into question the reliability of any deal,” Carney said in Ottawa. “We cannot accept what they’ve offered, and we will not give what they’ve asked.”
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the New York Times on Saturday that the US had offered to reduce its tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos, as well as eliminate a recently imposed tariff on Canadian lumber.
Greer said those measures would have given Canada “the most preferential treatment of any trading partner,” the Times said.
Greer on Saturday told Fox News that Washington was “moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation.”
No new talks were planned with Canadian negotiators, he said.
A senior US official characterized this week’s talks in Washington as candid and not acrimonious.
Canada has been seeking relief from Trump’s tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, which have battered the country’s economy, forced job losses and strained what was once an ironclad trade relationship.
The White House had alleged “discriminatory treatment” by Canada against US alcohol, automobile and dairy products in introducing the duties.
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