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Washington/Ottawa: The United States and Canada have failed to reach a trade agreement, deepening tensions between the two allies and paving the way for a fresh round of tariffs on Canadian imports.
The White House said Washington would impose 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods after the talks broke down. The duties, imposed under Section 338 on Canadian goods worth about $20 billion, will take effect at midnight Saturday, the White House said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, meanwhile, announced the suspension of trade negotiations with the United States and said Canada would match the new US tariffs dollar for dollar.
In a statement, Carney said Canadian negotiators had worked hard and in good faith to protect the interests of Canadians through the final stages of the talks, but that last-minute changes to the US proposals were unfair and economically unviable and called into question the reliability of any potential agreement.
The decision followed three days of talks in Washington between Canadian Minister responsible for Canada-US Trade Dominic LeBlanc and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
