The United States has put 50-percent tariffs on about $20bn worth of Canadian goods after trade negotiators from the two countries failed to finalise a trade deal, despite three days of talks in Washington DC. With a deadline imposed by US President Donald Trump expiring at 12:01am Eastern Time (0401 GMT) on Saturday, US and Canadian officials made clear that an agreement had not been reached. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that his country would match the new tariffs “dollar for dollar”.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer pinned the blame on Canada, saying that it was “a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States”. Trump imposed tariffs on key imports from Canada early in his second term last year, prompting Ottawa to retaliate with a suite of countermeasures. The two countries have gone back and forth ever since, with Trump periodically introducing new tariff threats.
The Trump administration had announced the tariffs in late July after the US president accused Canada of “discriminatory treatment of American products”. But he had told reporters on Friday that he expected a deal with Canada could be achieved – something that ultimately did not prove to be correct, for now. The tariffs will likely hurt many Canadian businesses exporting affected goods to the US.
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