The President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated that Canada wants “the benefits of being a state, without being one,” after the trade negotiations between the two countries failed at the last minute last Friday.
Read more They Have Done Witchcraft on Me: a story by Jaime Bayly
The breakdown of the talks resulted in the imposition of a 50% tariff on about US$20 billion in Canadian imports last Saturday. As a result, Trump pointed out that for years American farmers have had to face “huge amounts of tariffs.”
His words came after the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, described the new tariffs as a “miscalculation” intended to “harm us and divide us.”
Carney confirmed that Canada will respond to Trump’s tariffs “dollar for dollar” starting September 8, with tariffs that will include products such as steel, dairy, appliances, and electronic items.
According to the Prime Minister, both nations are now in a “trade war.” “They asked for too much and offered too little (…) You are at war when you are attacked. We were attacked,” he said.
The failure of the trade talks disrupted economic relations between Ottawa and Washington and, for now, there is no clear path to resolve the conflict. “We cannot accept what they offered and we will not deliver what they asked for,” Carney stated.
Read more Ricardo Zúñiga: “Trump’s vision is very much of a modernized imperialism”
Although there was willingness to clarify an agreement at the beginning of the week, the talks collapsed after each side accused the other of introducing last-minute changes.
Among other reasons, Canada denounced that Washington presented “unacceptable” and too restrictive conditions, including limiting Ottawa’s ability to reach new trade agreements with other countries.
In that vein, the new 50% U.S. tariffs will apply to a range of Canadian products and will be added to the already existing tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles, and wood from Canada.
The new measures will have a limited scope and will affect around US$20 billion in Canadian imports, equivalent to approximately 5% of the total.
The Canadian Prime Minister assured that his country will respond “reluctantly” to protect its interests and noted that the details of the countermeasures will be announced in the coming days.
