Canada suspends trade negotiations with US, will match Trump tariffs 'dollar for dollar'

There has been a breakdown in trade negotiations between Canada and the United States.

In a statement late Friday night, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that no deal had been reached, and that Ottawa would respond by matching President Donald Trump's tariffs "dollar for dollar."

"In recent weeks, we made important progress toward improving Canada’s position as having the best deal in the world with the US," he wrote. "However, that progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians. As a result, this evening, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the US and have directed Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa."

Carney thanked them for having "worked hard, in good faith, to defend the interests of Canadians throughout these negotiations up until the very last minute."

"Last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal," he continued. "At midnight tonight, the US intends to impose a 50% tariff on roughly $28 billion of Canadian goods. Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses."

Carney noted that Ottawa will soon "introduce additional measures to support Canadian workers and businesses, building on the nearly $25 billion in support provided over the past 18 months."

According to Politico, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer blamed their neighbours to the north.

“Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week," he said. "Despite the US offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walkbacks of other commitments by Canada upended the careful balance reached in the past days."

The move was lauded by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who shared Carney's view that Canada "cannot accept one-sided tariffs that will deindustrialize our country, nor can we accept a bad deal."

"Conservatives are disappointed that the United States has chosen to impose further unjustified tariffs on Canada," he added. "They threaten the jobs and livelihoods of families right across our country. Canadians must stand united to defend our country against these unfair attacks on our jobs and businesses."

Poilievre said he hoped to call the prime minister later Saturday.