Tariffs Triggered After Talks
A senior Trump administration official said Section 338 tariffs on about US$20 billion of Canadian goods would take effect just after midnight on Saturday, after three days of talks in Washington between Dominic LeBlanc and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
ABC NewsCanadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had suspended trade negotiations and that Canada would retaliate dollar for dollar on the new tariffs, directing Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa.
The tariffs were set to apply regardless of whether Canadian goods qualified for preferential treatment under the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which had shielded much of Canadian industry from earlier US tariffs.
The Weekly Times also said the lack of a final agreement meant new 50-percent duties impacting some $20 billion worth of goods, or 5.5 percent of Canadian exports to the United States, came into force.
Carney, Greer Trade Blame
Carney said the last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal, while also saying Canada would match the new US tariffs “dollar for dollar” to protect workers and businesses.
In a statement, Greer said Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week, adding that new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada upended the careful balance reached in the past days.
NBC News quoted Carney announcing that he had decided to suspend trade negotiations with the U.S. and directed Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa, with the tariffs going into effect at the stroke of midnight.
The Global News report said Ontario Premier Doug Ford backed Carney’s approach with “tariff for tariff, dollar for dollar,” while B.C. Premier David Eby said British Columbians “will always stand with Canada.”
In the same dispute, Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, called the tariffs a “body blow to North American competitiveness” and warned they were “not sustainable or viable for business.”
Retaliation and Next Steps
Global News said the imposition of the new tariffs puts into question efforts to renegotiate the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade (CUSMA), while Greer framed the breakdown as a “missed opportunity” to deepen cooperation with the United States.
OrilliaMatters reported that Carney said the U.S. intended to impose a 50 per cent tariff on roughly $28 billion of Canadian goods at midnight and that Canada will respond with matching tariffs, dollar for dollar.
The CBC account said the fresh American tariffs and the promise of Canadian counter-tariffs were a significant escalation, with Carney saying Ottawa ultimately couldn’t accept the terms on the table.
Looking ahead, the DW report said the U.S. told reporters that Canada declined to finalize the trade pact minutes before tariffs were set to kick in, meaning 50% tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Saturday and Canada vowed to retaliate “dollar for dollar.”