Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed and Prime Minister Mark Carney said, “We cannot control the storm lowing in from Washington.” He directed Canada’s trade negotiators on Friday evening to return to Ottawa.
In a statement delivered Saturday the Prime Minister reiterated previous remarks indicating Canada’s way forward is building Canada’s strength from within and diversifying trade abroad.
Earlier in the week, United States President Donald Trump delayed 50 per cent tariffs on even more Canadian goods by three days because there had been progress in trade talks. He even stated “we have a deal” with Canada. Mark Carney said Canada can’t accept what has been offered and that the federal government will not give what the U.S. has asked for.
Describing Canada’s approach to crafting a comprehensive trade deal as pragmatic, patient and persistent Carney said the goal has always been to get the best deal for Canadians, never a deal at any price or on any time frame.
Dan Kelly, President of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, issued a statement after talks broke down saying that the impact on small businesses will be immediate.
“The new list of new Canadian exports subject to a 50 per cent tariff includes 18 pages of products that are right at the centre of what small businesses sell. A full 40 per cent of small Canadian exporters will be directly hit by these tariffs and nearly one third expect their revenues will drop by 50 per cent or more as a result.”
The Prime Minister listed the various and sundry reasons cited by the United States in the past year as to why tariffs have been levied against Canada including taxes on U.S. tech giants, the certification of U.S. aircraft, the sharing of tolls of a bridge that Canada built and paid for, Canada’s dairy policy, provincial decision to not sell American alcohol during a trade war, a television ad that quoted Ronald Reagan and smoke from wildfires – all after initially citing fentanyl flowing from Canada to the U.S. as being the reason tariffs were being imposed.The United States has said another reason their tariffs have been imposed was because the U.S. runs a trade deficit with Canada which Carney says is a narrow merchandise trade deficit that only exists because the U.S. buys so much of its energy from Canada.
The federal government plans to impose new tariffs on the United States which will come into force the Tuesday after Labour Day which will be concentrated in sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics.
