The United States imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products early Saturday, while Canada immediately announced plans to retaliate after last-minute talks failed to resolve the latest dispute between the two longtime allies.
The tariffs ordered by President Donald Trump will affect around 5% of Canada’s annual exports to the United States. The affected products include items ranging from hockey sticks to tongue depressors.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would respond by matching the U.S. tariffs dollar for dollar. The move could further deepen the trade conflict and raise questions about the future of the North American trade agreement involving the United States, Canada and Mexico, which is important for industries across all three countries.
Canada had been seeking relief from U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles and lumber, but the United States was unwilling to offer those concessions.
“Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week. Despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk-backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement read to reporters during a press call shortly before midnight.
Carney responded, “Last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.” He said the Canadian government would announce additional support for workers and businesses in the coming days.
Greer said the U.S. proposal was “forward-looking” and included “a historic economic and national security partnership.”
No further talks have been scheduled. The failure of the negotiations marked a major change from just two days earlier, when officials from both countries appeared to be moving closer to a compromise.
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