Trade negotiations between the United States and Canada fail and are heading towards the entry into force of tariffs

Trade negotiations between the United States and Canada failed at the last minute this Friday, leaving the way clear for the entry into force of the 50% tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on some $20 billion in Canadian products, after Ottawa refused to close an agreement that it considered unfavorable.

The United States trade representative, Jamieson Greer, blamed Canada for the failure of the talks and stated that Ottawa refused to close the agreement on the terms that, according to Washington, had been agreed at the beginning of the week.

“Tonight, Canada refused to finalize the trade agreement on the terms agreed upon earlier this week,” Greer said in a statement released this Friday.

Greer assured that the United States had offered Canada “the best possible deal among the main exporters to our market,” but maintained that the new demands raised by Ottawa and the failure to meet other commitments “have disrupted the carefully established agreement.”

Washington's statement came after negotiations continued until late Friday without both countries reaching an agreement to prevent the new tariffs from coming into force.

Just hours before the talks collapsed, Trump had expressed optimism about the possibility of reaching an agreement with Canada.

Negotiations had progressed during the week to the point that the president had postponed the entry into force of the new 50% tariffs to give the negotiating teams more time.

For his part, the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, maintained that his country had made important progress during the talks, but that the modifications proposed by the United States at the last moment prevented closing an acceptable agreement.

The new tariffs affect, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, imports from Canada worth about $20 billion and cover products such as hockey sticks, some construction materials, alcoholic beverages and certain types of clothing.

Carney warned that Canada will respond immediately to the US levies and assured that Ottawa will match them “dollar for dollar” to protect its workers and companies.

On Thursday, the Canadian minister responsible for trade relations with the United States, Dominic LeBlanc, met for several hours with the US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, and stated upon leaving that they were “very close” to reaching an agreement and that they would continue working until they reached it.