The United States has imposed 50 per cent tariffs on about $20bn worth of Canadian goods after three days of trade talks in Washington failed to produce an agreement.
The deadline set by US President Donald Trump expired at 12:01am Eastern Time (0401 GMT) on Saturday, with officials from both sides confirming that no deal had been reached, reports Al Jazeera.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to respond in kind, saying Ottawa would match the new tariffs “dollar for dollar.”
In a statement, he said, “In recent weeks, we made important progress towards improving Canada’s position as having the best deal in the world with the US. However, that progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians.”
Carney said his government would announce measures in the coming days to support workers and businesses affected by the trade war.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer blamed Canada for the breakdown, calling it “a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States.”
He said, “Canada declined to finalise the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week. Despite the US 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.”
The new tariffs cover about 5 per cent of Canadian exports to the US, including electronics, industrial machinery and dairy products, adding to existing American duties on steel, lumber and autos.
Trump had already imposed tariffs on key Canadian imports early in his second term, prompting Ottawa to retaliate with countermeasures.
The two countries have since traded blows, with Trump periodically threatening new tariffs. The latest measures were announced in late July after he accused Canada of “discriminatory treatment of American products.”
On Friday, however, Trump told reporters he still expected a deal could be reached — a prediction that did not materialise.
Julian Karaguesian, a lecturer at McGill University in Montreal, said, “Tariffs of 50 percent would effectively price hundreds of Canadian goods out of the US market.”
