US-Canada Trade Negotiations Collapse Ahead of Tariff Deadline

Trade negotiations between the United States and Canada fell apart on Friday night, shortly before a midnight deadline for 50% tariffs to take effect on $20 billion worth of Canadian products.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement, shared on social media late Friday, that "Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses."

Carney said that 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, Carney 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."

Carney placed the blame for the collapse in negotiations on the U.S.: "last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal," as he concluded: "Canada has what the world wants. And we will not allow any nation to determine our future."

Shortly after midnight, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer responded to Carney with a statement posted on social media 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.