World
US Canada trade talks collapse over tariff escalation
Will Ottawa’s dollar-for-dollar response widen the trade rupture?
Will Ottawa’s dollar-for-dollar response widen the trade rupture?
US-Canada have collapsed into a sharper confrontation, with both governments now using duties as leverage in a dispute over access, , and political pressure. The stakes are high because the hit major sectors and can quickly spill into business costs, , and broader , making compromise harder once punishment has begun.
Carney said Canada would match the US tariffs , turning the dispute into a reciprocal . Early coverage said businesses, exporters, importers, and investors were bracing for fallout, while officials and markets began to reassess and the wider Canada-US relationship.
Prime Minister Mark Carney suspended the trade talks and recalled negotiators to Ottawa after what he described as to the terms. The move formally froze the and signaled that Canada saw the US step as a breakdown, not a final bargaining offer.
The US imposed 50% on roughly USD 28 billion of Canadian imports, with reports saying the duties hit a broad range of goods and took effect at midnight. Coverage said the measures affected major sectors and added to earlier already in place, making the shock larger than a single-product tariff fight.
After three days of talks in Washington, the two sides failed to finalize a deal and the became unavoidable. US officials said Canada had declined to accept the , while the dispute shifted from negotiation to punishment.
Reporting said the sides seemed close to an agreement, with Trump describing a deal and Carney saying the countries were moving toward one. That brief optimism underscored how quickly the negotiations could still turn, even at the edge of the deadline.
With the approaching, Greer said President Trump and Prime Minister would get options, while reports said the two leaders were still in contact. The talks were fragile, but they were still alive at this stage.
Jamieson Greer said Canada needed to remove its to avoid new tariffs, and warned that the administration would not tolerate further retaliation. The warning made clear that tariff escalation was becoming the central leverage point in the dispute.
Canada put forward a package of trade proposals in an effort to avoid the threatened 50% tariffs, including possible changes to . The talks were still active, but the gap remained wide and the risk of stayed high.
As the new US tariffs drew near, Canadian officials said they were preparing a strong response and that “everything” was on the table. The comments showed was already treating the dispute as a potential rather than a routine negotiation.
President Donald Trump imposed a on a wide range of Canadian goods, framing it as retaliation over what he called unequal treatment of . The move set a hard new baseline for talks and turned the dispute from bargaining into an immediate trade shock.