Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa would impose retaliatory tariffs “dollar for dollar” after trade talks with the United States collapsed.
Published August 22, 2026
The United States imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods after trade negotiators from both countries failed to finalize a trade deal despite three days of talks in Washington, D.C.
As a deadline imposed by President Donald Trump expires on Saturday at 12:01 a.m. ET (4:01 GMT), U.S. and Canadian officials say they have not reached an agreement.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country would respond to new tariffs on a “dollar-for-dollar basis.”
“In recent weeks, we have made significant progress toward improving Canada’s position as having the best agreement in the world with the United States,” Secretary Carney said in a statement. “But that progress is not enough to meet our goals for Canadians.”
Mr. Carney will soon outline what his government will do to protect Canadians from the effects of the trade war, saying he will introduce new measures to support workers and businesses in the coming days.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer placed the blame on Canada, saying it was a “missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States.”
“Canada has refused to enter into a trade deal based on the terms agreed to earlier this week,” Gurrer said. “Despite the United States offering Canada the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, Canada’s new demands and withdrawal of other commitments have upset the careful balance achieved over the past few days.”
The tariffs will apply to about 5% of Canada’s exports to the United States, including electronics, industrial machinery and dairy products, and will be in addition to existing U.S. duties on steel, timber and automobiles.
President Trump imposed tariffs on major Canadian imports at the beginning of his second term last year, and the city of Ottawa retaliated with a series of countermeasures.
Since then, the two countries have had an up-and-down relationship, with President Trump regularly raising the threat of new tariffs.
The Trump administration announced the tariffs in July after the U.S. president accused Canada of “discriminatory treatment against American products.”
But while President Trump told reporters Friday that he expects a deal could be reached with Canada, that hasn’t ultimately proven to be the case at this point.
The tariffs could hurt many Canadian companies that export affected goods to the United States.
“A 50% tariff would effectively take hundreds of Canadian products out of the U.S. market,” Julien Karaghesian, a lecturer and trade expert at Montreal’s McGill University, told Al Jazeera earlier this week.
