Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney withdrew his country's representatives from trade talks with the United States on Friday evening, just hours before a new round of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration was due to take effect, UNN writes, citing The Hill.
Details
The decision followed weeks of intensive negotiations between the two countries over the 50% tariffs proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canadian goods worth more than $20 billion.
The new tariffs, which were initially scheduled to take effect on Wednesday, will affect a range of goods, including wine, hockey sticks, cement, plywood and more. The Canadian prime minister said the new policy was a "direct violation" of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Trump postponed the introduction of 50% tariffs against Canada for three days19.08.26, 09:37
Carney promised to "match these tariffs dollar for dollar" in a statement posted on social media Friday evening. He added that the Canadian government would introduce "additional measures" to support workers and business owners in the country in the coming days.
Although the Canadian prime minister said Canadian negotiators had made "significant progress" in recent weeks, he said it was "not enough to achieve our objectives for Canadians."
"As a result of this evening, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the United States and instructed Canadian negotiators to return to Ottawa," his statement said.
"They worked hard and in good faith to protect the interests of Canadians throughout these negotiations until the last minute," Carney continued. "However, last-minute changes to the terms proposed by the United States were unfair, uneconomic and called into question the reliability of any agreement."
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer criticized Canada for its decision to withdraw from the talks in a statement posted on his official social media page.
"Despite the U.S. offer for Canada to receive better treatment than any major exporter to our market, new demands and Canada's abandonment of other commitments overturned the careful balance achieved in recent days," Greer wrote, calling it a "missed opportunity" for a partnership between the two countries.
Canada and the United States have historically had close relations, but the Trump administration's aggressive efforts to negotiate new trade agreements that would serve U.S. interests have put those ties to the test, the publication writes.
Trump has repeatedly suggested that the United States should accept its northern neighbor as the "51st state" and called Carney the "future governor of Canada."
Carney wrote that Canada's negotiators in these tariff talks had "worked in this context."
"From the outset, we recognized that America had changed and that we would not return to our old relationship," Carney continued. "Our government understood earlier than many others that America is changing all of its trade relationships. It is imposing tariffs on its closest allies and charging for access to its enormous market."
Carney and Trump held talks ahead of the imposition of 50% U.S. tariffs on Canada19.08.26, 02:17