Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday vowed “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs in response to the United States’ 50% tariffs on $20 billion in Canadian goods after the two sides failed to reach a trade deal.
Carney’s tit-for-tat measures, set to take effect on September 8, will include tariffs on steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp, paper and electronics.
“In recent days, the United States proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair, and undermined the net benefits for Canada, and called into question the reliability of any deal. In short, they asked too much, and they offered too little,” Carney said Saturday at a news conference in Ottawa.
Canada had offered some concessions as part of the deal, including removing its retaliatory measures from last year and returning US alcohol to Canadian shops. But the US did not agree to “sensible economic terms” for core industries, including the automotive industry. And when asked about critical minerals, Carney said Canada would never give the US “exclusive access.”
Trump and Carney, as well as top trade officials from both countries, had been in direct contact throughout the week after Trump granted a three-day delay to the tariffs.
“Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said early Saturday in a post on X. He said the deal included “significant tariff reductions on steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber,” as well as “a historic economic and national security partnership.”
“Despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walkbacks of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days,” Greer said.
Appearing later on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” Greer said the US would move forward with its own countermeasures after Canada said it would retaliate against new tariffs.
“We don’t have new talks planned with the Canadians. We’re moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation,” Greer said. He did not provide specifics on the countermeasures.
