Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says his country will initiate retaliatory tariffs against U.S. imports starting Sept. 8. The move came hours after the Trump administration began enforcing 50% tariffs on a slew of Canadian goods.
Trade negotiations between the United States and Canada fell apart Friday night, shortly before a midnight deadline for the 50% tariffs to take effect on $20 billion worth of Canadian products, including some dairy products, alcoholic beverages, cement and hockey equipment.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a bulletin to businesses Friday warning that its officers would be ensuring importers complied with the new rates starting immediately after the deadline passed.
Carney said Friday night that "Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses." He later said the retaliatory tariffs set to kick in next month will focus on American sectors such as "steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics."
In a statement shared on social media, Carney said important progress had been made in recent weeks toward "improving Canada's position as having the best deal in the world with the U.S." That progress, however, did not meet Canada's objectives, he said, adding: "As a result, this evening, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the U.S. and have directed negotiators to return to Ottawa."
The prime minister blamed the U.S. for the collapse in negotiations. "Last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal," Carney said, concluding, "Canada has what the world wants. And we will not allow any nation to determine our future."
On Saturday morning, Carney wrote on social media that his negotiators had worked "in good faith" for more than a year, and his government would in the coming days "release the details of these new tariff measures, which will come into force the Tuesday after Labour Day."
The U.S., in turn, pointed the finger at Canada. Shortly after midnight, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer responded to Carney on social media by saying that Canada had "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," Greer said.
He added that earlier this week "the United States agreed to provide even better treatment to Canada, offering significant tariff reductions on steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber."
"The offer would have led to supply chain coordination on aerospace, complementary actions to address unfair trade practices, critical minerals cooperation, increased enforcement against imports produced with forced labor, and the announcement of formal U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations," Greer said in his statement.
Overnight Saturday, President Trump posted on social media saying: "Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!! They have also charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of Tariffs. No more!!! President DJT."
NPR's Chandelis Duster contributed to this report.
