US President Donald Trump on Saturday (local time) slammed Canada a day after negotiations between the two sides fell through, triggering a 50 per cent tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian imports. He accused Ottawa of charging American farmers for years.
In a Truth Social post, he wrote, “Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!! They have also charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of Tariffs. No more!!!”
His remarks came a day after Washington announced the tariffs following the collapse of last-minute talks between the two historic allies. According to reports, the new tariffs were to come into effect at 12:01 am on Saturday on hundreds of items that Washington imports from Ottawa, including plywood, liquor, electrical equipment and hockey gear.
Previously, the US President expressed confidence in finalising a deal with Canada and said Washington “should be able to have a deal with Canada,” as he cited his “good relationship” with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Canadian PM announces retaliatory tariffs
After trade talks failed between the two long-standing allies, Mark Carney announced retaliatory tariffs on US goods, saying he had walked away from a “bad deal” amid a deepening rift between the countries.
Carney said, “You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked,” and added, “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 further said, “We cannot accept what they’ve offered, and we will not give what they’ve asked.”
According to AFP, the Canadian PM noted that Canadian tariffs will target Washington’s steel and dairy industries and will come into effect on 8 September. He added that more details would come next week.
More details awaited.
