Canadian PM vows ‘dollar-for-dollar’ tariffs against US as trade talks collapse

Ottawa, Aug 23 (IANS) Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a nationally televised address to outline Canada’s position following the breakdown of trade talks with the United States, announcing that Ottawa’s “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory tariffs against $20 billion worth of American goods would take effect on September 8.

The prime minister said the counter-tariffs will cover a wide range of sectors, including dairy, steel, appliances, pulp and paper, and electronics.

The United States and Canada failed to reach a trade deal on Friday, and the United States imposed a 50 per cent tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods on Saturday which took effect just after midnight (0400 GMT), reports Xinhua news agency.

Explaining why negotiations broke down at the last minute, Carney said that while both sides were close to a mutually beneficial agreement earlier this week, the US side introduced last-minute changes that were “unfair, uneconomic and called into question the reliability of any deal.”

The US side’s repeated disregard for existing free trade agreements such as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) sends a bad signal to international businesses and is “certainly not good news” for renewing the agreement in the future, Carney warned.

The rift comes as the United States, Mexico and Canada are trying to renew the CUSMA, a trade agreement that Trump negotiated in his first term and once praised as a triumph.

The United States has begun formal talks with Mexico to revamp the agreement, but talks with Canada have not yet begun.

The CUSMA is a trilateral trade pact that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement when it took effect on July 1, 2020. On July 1, 2026, the United States officially declined to renew the agreement for another 16-year term, triggering an annual review process until the pact expires in 2036.

When asked why Canada was entering a trade dispute, the prime minister stated flatly: “Because we were attacked.”

Carney reiterated his confidence in Canada’s economic resilience, pointing out that Canada is creating jobs at four times the rate of the United States, with foreign direct investment reaching a 20-year high.

“Canada is becoming stronger and less dependent on America,” he said.

–IANS

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