Canada will respond “dollar for dollar” to the new tariffs imposed by the United States, announced Prime Minister Mark Carney after trade negotiations between the two countries ended without an agreement.
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The decision was communicated shortly before the deadline set for the talks expired. Carney ordered the return of Canadian negotiators to Ottawa and questioned the changes made by Washington during the final stage of the negotiations.
“The last-minute changes to the conditions proposed by the United States were unfair, uneconomical, and called into question the reliability of any agreement,” said the prime minister.
Carney stated that despite the “significant progress” made in the talks, it was not enough to meet his government’s objectives. He also defended Ottawa’s position, assuring that they sought to achieve the best possible understanding, but “never an agreement at any price or within any timeframe”.
The breakdown of the negotiations coincided with the entry into force this Saturday of new U.S. tariffs of 50% on certain Canadian products, affecting imports valued at nearly US$20 billion.
Justifying the decision, the prime minister stated that the economic relationship between the two countries is undergoing a fundamental transformation since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
“From the beginning, we recognized that the United States has changed and that we will not return to our old relationship. Our government understood, before many others, that the United States is modifying all its trade relationships, imposing tariffs on its closest allies and charging for access to its huge market,” he said.
Canada directs approximately 70% of its exports to the United States, so a prolonged trade dispute could have a significant impact on its economy.
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The announcement of retaliation received support from Ontario, one of the provinces most exposed to the dispute due to the weight of its manufacturing and automotive industry.
“The prime minister has my full support for a strong response: tariff for tariff, dollar for dollar,” said the provincial government leader, Doug Ford.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration blamed Canada for the failure of the negotiations. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Ottawa refused to finalize an agreement on the terms that, according to the United States, had been agreed upon in the previous days.
Greer added that the Canadian “new demands” and the alleged failure to meet other commitments had disrupted “the careful balance reached in recent days.”
The talks sought to reduce some of the existing trade barriers. Among the formulas discussed was reducing U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum from 50% to 25% and those applied to automobiles from 25% to 15%.
The United States also demanded concessions such as changes to Canadian dairy quotas and the removal of some retaliatory measures that Ottawa and various provinces had previously adopted.
After the failure of the talks, no new meetings are scheduled between the two delegations, according to available information.
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