US President Donald Trump on Sunday said Canada wants the “benefits of being a state without being one”, a day after trade talks collapsed between the two neighbours.
In his first comments since a breakdown in trade negotiations, he also said the American farmers had been charged “massive amounts of tariffs” for years.
“Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one,” Trump, who has repeatedly suggested Canada should be the 51st US state, said in a post on Truth Social.
“They have also charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of Tariffs. No more!!!” he added.
The remarks came hours after Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will impose tariffs on some US goods in retaliation for 50% levies ordered by Trump on Canadian products.
“Canada will match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses,” Carney told reporters.
“You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked,” the banker-turned-politician said when asked a question about whether Canada was engaged in a trade war.
He said the Trump administration’s last-minute demands halted progress.
“In recent days, the US proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair, and undermined the net benefits to Canada, calling into question the reliability of any deal,” Carney said, adding these demands included curtailing Canada’s ability to forge new trade deals.
Canada’s Demand For Trucks’ Tariff Relief Led To Derailed US Talks?
The trade negotiations collapsed in part amid a last-minute standoff over cutting US tariffs on Canadian medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Both countries had the outline of a deal, which would have lowered US sectoral tariffs on autos, steel, aluminium and lumber, but they remained at odds over the treatment of larger vehicles, the people said.
Ottawa insisted on the additional relief in a phone call late Friday, but Washington balked, they said.
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Under the deal, the regular auto tariff would have been lowered to 15% from the current 25%. Canada wanted that relief expanded to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, which typically range from large pickup trucks to commercial vehicles, the people said.
While the US imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods early Saturday, Carney said Canada would retaliate “dollar for dollar” beginning September 8, targeting sectors including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics.
