Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has said a fresh wave of US tariffs on Canada is a “miscalculation” designed to “hurt and divide us”, after trade talks broke down late on Friday.
Carney said he walked away from a deal because he was not prepared to “compromise Canada’s sovereignty”.
“They asked too much and they offered too little,” Carney said in a speech to Canadians on Saturday morning.
The prime minister added that Canada will match US tariffs “dollar-for-dollar” from 8 September, including levies on steel, dairy, appliances and electronics. Donald Trump has yet to comment.
Both countries were optimistic of a deal earlier in the week, but talks collapsed on Friday night after both sides accused the other of making last-minute changes.
Now that talks have broken down, Canada will be hit with new 50% US tariffs on a range of Canadian goods, in addition to existing US tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium, automobiles and lumber.
The prime minister said Canada was retaliating “reluctantly” to protect its interests. Details of the counter-measures will be released in the coming days, he said.
Carney’s speech on Saturday is his first address to Canadians after he announced late on Friday night that a deal would not be reached, accusing the Americans of making “last-minute changes” that were “unfair” and “uneconomic”.
US negotiators, meanwhile, accused Canada of making “new demands and walk backs” on terms which had been agreed earlier in the week.
The collapse comes after more than a year of on-again, off-again trade talks, which intensified in recent weeks after a US-imposed deadline to strike a deal or face further tariffs.
The two countries were also engaged in a mandatory review of an existing North American free trade agreement, known as USMCA, with Mexico.
Earlier this summer, Canada and Mexico had formally requested for USMCA to be renewed for another 16 years. The US, however, declined to renew it in its current form.
Asked how Friday’s trade talk collapse would impact the North American free trade pact, Carney said it was “certainly not good news”.
Tariffs – a tax placed on imports from other countries – have been a key component of Trump’s trade policy, with the US president arguing they will boost American manufacturing and create jobs at home.
Critics, however, say tariffs have raised prices for American consumers and have disrupted and damaged the global economy.
By BBC News
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
