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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to issue retaliatory, “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs after the United States enacted steep new duties on the country.
Carney addressed Canadians on Saturday, just hours after the US imposed 50 percent tariffs on nearly $20bn worth of the country’s goods.
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The prime minister promised a “focused response”, beginning September 8, that would level tariffs on US imports like steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, paper and electronics.
“We pursued every opportunity to reach an agreement that protects Canadian workers and their families, that strengthens our economy and that respects Canadian sovereignty,” Carney said. “We take this step reluctantly.”
Carney’s remarks come after weeks of uncertainty over whether the tariffs would take effect. The newest import taxes were first announced in July, as part of an ongoing back-and-forth over trade between the two countries.
Since the start of his second term, Trump has sought to ratchet up pressure on Canada, as part of a push to increase US influence over the Western Hemisphere and advance US priorities.
In announcing the 50 percent tariffs on July 20, Trump accused Canada of “discriminatory treatment” in its trade policies. The two neighbours are longtime allies and have been among each other’s largest trading partners for decades.
Negotiators on both sides, however, have sought to stop Trump’s latest round of tariffs from taking effect, achieving a postponement from a previous deadline on Wednesday.
But despite marathon talks in the three days since, they failed to finalise a trade deal. The revised tariff deadline expired at midnight Eastern US time (04:00 GMT).
Carney, who said Canada had been “pragmatic, patient and persistent”, explained on Saturday that his country walked away from the discussions because the US “asked too much and they offered too little”.
He also accused the US of introducing last-minute demands that scuttled the negotiations.
“In recent days, the United States proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair, and undermined the net benefits for Canada and called into question the reliability of any deal,” Carney said.
When reporters pressed him for specifics, Carney referred to 11th-hour changes regarding car imports, as well as restrictions on Canada’s ability to forge new trade alliances.
“The US introduced in the last hours efforts to restrict our ability to have other trade deals,” Carney alleged.
“We’re the partner of choice in many respects for countries around the world, and the Americans wanted to restrict that. They had language that wanted to restrict that. Unacceptable.”
Carney also criticised the US’s shifting rationale for imposing the cross-border tariffs, pointing to remarks Trump has made citing drug-trafficking, television advertisements and wildfire smoke as reasons for increasing import duties on Canadian products.
Since taking office in 2025, Carney has been at loggerheads with Trump, who returned to the White House for a second term that same year.
Trump has repeatedly used far-reaching tariffs as leverage to secure more beneficial deals from US trading partners. Experts say his aggressive foreign policy has also alienated some of the country’s longstanding allies.
In the face of such tensions, Carney has advocated for the world’s “middle powers” to join forces as a counterbalance to superpowers like the US and China. He acknowledged Trump’s disruptive influence in global politics in Saturday’s speech.
“Our government understood before many that America would transform all of its commercial relationships, that it would put a series of tariffs on its closest allies and use economic integration as a weapon,” Carney said.
He also suggested that the US, under Trump, is prone to abruptly changing course. “We recognise that, sometimes, its signature was written in pencil.”
“The gap between partnership and competitor has, unfortunately, remained too wide in recent days,” he added.
The Trump administration, however, has sought to paint Canada’s demands as the impediment in this week’s tariff negotiations.
As late as Friday afternoon, a breakthrough between Ottawa and Washington seemed possible, with Trump telling reporters, “The deal with Canada is moving along.”
Reports emerged that the US had offered to lower tariffs on aluminium, cars and steel if Canada gave US businesses more access to its dairy and lumber markets.
But on Saturday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News there are no future talks planned with Canada. Greer also revealed the US would be “moving forward with measures” to respond to its northern neighbour’s retaliatory tariffs.
“They’ve always had the best deal, and they still would have an even better deal, but they didn’t want that,” Greer said.
Carney, meanwhile, indicated that Canada would continue to strengthen its trade relations with other countries.
“We can’t control the storm that blows in from Washington,” Carney said. “We can, however, chart a new course by building Canada strong and diversifying our trading relationships abroad.”
One reporter asked Carney about his sombre tone, “Why does it feel like, today, Mark Carney is going to war? Trade war?”
Carney responded bluntly, “You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked.”
