US announces 50% tariffs on Canadian goods after trade talks collapse
GeopoliticsMacro Impact 4
The United States has announced it will impose 50% tariffs on certain imports from Canada after trade negotiations between the two countries broke down on the evening of Friday, August 21. Senior Trump administration officials said the US will begin enforcing tariff measures under Section 338 on about 20 billion US dollars' worth of Canadian goods after midnight Friday into Saturday, August 22. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he has ordered a suspension of trade talks with the US and that Canada will retaliate with tariffs of equivalent value to the new US measures. The decision came after three days of talks in Washington between Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister responsible for trade with the US, and Jamieson Greer, the US Trade Representative. Carney said the changes to terms proposed by the US late in the negotiations were unfair, bad for the economy, and raised questions about the credibility of any future agreement. Although the new tariff measures cover only a relatively small share of Canadian exports, they will add to existing US tariff pressure on Canadian steel, lumber, and automobiles.
