The new US duties cover roughly 5% of Canada’s exports to the United States
The Trump administration is imposing a 50% import tax on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods as of last night, after last-minute talks to strike a trade deal before the 12:01 a.m. deadline fell apart.
The two countries had seemed close to a deal after weeks of negotiations. But the talks broke down after Washington introduced last-minute changes that Canada considered unacceptable.
A draft agreement seen by news outlets earlier in the week would have lowered US tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum and autos in exchange for Canada ending its retaliatory measures against Washington.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said late changes from Washington were unfair and threatened the reliability of any agreement.
He also added that Canada would respond with dollar-for-dollar tariffs on US products and introduce measures to support affected Canadian workers. The new US duties cover roughly 5% of Canada’s exports to the United States.