Trade talks between the United States and Canada broke down on Friday without an agreement, paving the way for 50% tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Canadian imports valued at up to $28 billion to take effect at midnight.
The collapse was particularly striking because just hours earlier, Trump had boasted to the press that the deal was progressing well. "I only make good deals, much better deals for the United States, both with Canada and Mexico," the Republican leader stated.
From Washington, the blame fell squarely on Ottawa. According to El Confidencial, the U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer, stated in a statement that "tonight, Canada refused to finalize the agreement" and that "the new demands raised have disrupted a carefully established deal."
The new tariffs, according to the U.S. Trade Representative's Office, cover products such as hockey sticks, construction materials, alcoholic beverages, and certain types of clothing.
The Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, responded this Saturday with a solemn televised address in which he announced "dollar-for-dollar" retaliatory measures that will take effect on September 8.
Canadian countermeasures will focus on sectors such as steel, dairy products, appliances, agricultural machinery, pasta and paper, and electronics.
Carney also waved the energy card to warn Washington of the consequences of further escalation. "Canada drives U.S. growth, supplying 99% of its natural gas imports, 85% of its electricity imports, and 60% of its crude oil imports. I don't think they want us to stop sending them all that energy," he remarked.
The prime minister described the tariffs as "a miscalculation" and "a new attack on Canada," and rejected the notion that his country had chosen this confrontation: "And you are attacked when there is a war. It was not our choice."
The failure is even more surprising when reviewing the sequence of events in the previous days. On Wednesday, the White House had granted a three-day extension—related to a preliminary agreement to resume construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would connect Alberta to Nebraska—and on Thursday, Canadian Minister of Trade, Dominic LeBlanc, emerged from his meeting with Greer stating that they were "very close."
According to leaks to Bloomberg, Washington had agreed to lower tariffs on Canadian cars to 15% and to reduce the levy on steel and aluminum to 25%. However, Vice President JD Vance publicly defended protectionism from a steel plant in Ohio, and sectors of the U.S. steel industry warned that any tariff reduction would put local jobs and investments at risk.
Carney explained that the demands on the automotive sector would make it "economically unviable" for production in Canada over time, and he denounced Washington's last-minute attempts to "restrict Canada's ability to reach other trade agreements."
In his speech, the Canadian Prime Minister cited his country's sovereignty five times and accused the Trump administration of using bilateral economic integration "as a weapon." "We were not willing to compromise Canada's sovereignty or weaken our fundamental industries," he emphasized.
This trade war began in February 2025 with a 25% tariff on most Canadian imports, and since then, the escalation has been continuous: in August 2025, the overall tariffs increased to 35%, and in July 2026, Trump announced the jump to 50% which is now in effect.
Greer pointed out that, following the collapse, there are no new talks planned with Canada. Carney, for his part, concluded his speech with a message of firmness: "We are now stronger than when the U.S. started this trade war. We are united, more determined, and more ambitious. With the strongest fiscal position in the G7 and a resilient economy, Canada has all the resources we need to change course and thrive."
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