The US says Canada has declined to finalize a trade pact with Washington, minutes before tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump were due to come into effect.
“Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters, despite Washington’s offers for tariff reductions in sectors like steel and aluminum.
This means that 50% tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on Saturday.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to match the US tariffs. He described the US terms of the deal as “unfair.”
“Last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal,” Carney said.
What happened in the last-ditch trade negotiations?
Canada’s minister responsible for trade with the had said late Friday that a trade deal was not yet finalized.
Washington and Ottawa have been racing to reach an agreement before steep new US tariffs were due to take effect.
“We have more work to do. We’re going to continue working up until the last minute. Our job is not finished,” Dominic LeBlanc told reporters following talks with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
LeBlanc’s comments came after President Donald Trump said the US “should be able to have a deal with Canada,” citing his “good relationship” with
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Trump’s trade dispute with Canada
In July, Trump threatened to impose new 50% duties on some Canadian products by Wednesday, but announced a three-day pause due to major progress in trade talks.
Reuters reported that the deal was expected to reduce US tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles from 25% to 15% and halve duties on Canadian steel and aluminum to 25%.
The US currently accounts for roughly 70% of Canadian exports, which makes Canada vulnerable to punitive US trade actions.
Carney’s big challenge
Even if Washington and Ottawa reached a deal, Carney was expected to face a difficult task of selling it to Canadians and the premiers of the country’s 10 provinces.
A Leger poll released Wednesday found that 56% of Canadians want the government to “take a hard line” and make no further concessions to the US.
Carney has been urging major provinces to reconsider putting US alcohol back on the shelves. The boycott was imposed last year as a retaliatory measure to tariffs Trump put on Canadian goods.
Quebec Premier Christine Frechette said she would assess the deal before taking a position, while Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew told reporters that Canada should continue to “fight.”
Edited by: Rana Taha
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