U.S.-Canada Trade Talks Collapse, 50% Tariffs Take Effect

Trade talks between the United States and Canada collapsed on Friday, triggering a new set of 50% tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on roughly $20 billion in Canadian exports.

Negotiators from both countries had worked through the week, at times signaling that a deal was near. President Donald Trump had postponed the original Wednesday deadline just hours before it took effect, citing a soon-to-be finalized agreement. Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's trade minister for the U.S., told reporters Thursday that a deal was "very close." By Friday, both sides blamed each other as the tariffs went into effect Saturday morning.

The tariffs affect a range of Canadian goods, including:

Wine
Furniture
Dairy products
Cement
Clothing
Fishing rods
Hockey equipment

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement that despite progress toward a deal, "that progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians," adding that "last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal." Carney said Canada would retaliate against the new tariffs "dollar for dollar."

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters at a White House briefing Friday night that "Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week."

The Trump administration had signed three proclamations in July imposing the additional 50% tariffs on Canadian goods, citing trade discrimination against U.S. products and industries including motor vehicles, alcohol and dairy. The tariffs were applied under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 50% on goods from countries found to discriminate against the U.S. — a provision not used since 1949.

The breakdown adds further strain to U.S.-Canada relations, which were already tense over the trilateral USMCA trade pact with Mexico. That agreement was not renewed in July amid concerns over U.S. trade deficits, despite Trump once calling it "the best agreement we've ever made."

Source: CNBC

U.S.-Canada Trade Talks Collapse, Triggering 50% Tariffs

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