New US customs duties against Canada come into force

After the failure of final negotiations, the new 50% customs duties wanted by Donald Trump against a certain number of Canadian products, including cement and hockey sticks, came into force on Saturday August 22. Canada has promised to respond "to the nearest dollar". Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc spent the week in Washington trying to resolve this crisis between the two neighbors whose relations have significantly deteriorated since the start of Donald Trump's second term.

But negotiators left Friday evening without an agreement, triggering the entry into force of these punitive surcharges, affecting a total of $20 billion in Canadian imports. This represents approximately 5.5% of Canadian exports to the United States, according to some estimates. “Despite an American offer to Canada to receive better treatment than any exporter in our market, new demands and setbacks on other commitments by Canada have upset the fragile balance obtained in recent days,” regretted the White House Trade Representative (USTR), Jamieson Greer. According to him, the American government notably offered to lower sectoral customs duties affecting steel and aluminum, the automobile sector and even construction lumber, in exchange for concessions from Canada, which were not detailed.

Canada denounces “unfair and uneconomic” conditions

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced, in a press release published on “The last minute changes made by the United States to the proposed conditions were unfair, uneconomic and called into question the reliability of any agreement,” he explained, to justify Ottawa’s refusal to sign the agreement.