Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday accused the United States of imposing new tariffs to “hurt and divide” Canada, calling the measures a “miscalculation” and vowing dollar-for-dollar retaliation as trade talks between Ottawa and Washington remain suspended.
“The new US tariffs are designed to hurt and divide us,” Carney said in remarks published by his office.
“They’re a miscalculation because Canadians will always take care of each other.”
Carney said Canada would respond to the latest tariff measures with counter-tariffs set to take effect Sept. 8.
The measures will target products including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp, paper and electronics, he said.
Carney also said Canada would never give up “exclusive access” to its critical minerals.
Meanwhile, the Canadian leader said Ottawa had suspended trade talks with Washington after the United States made demands that Canada could not accept.
The United States, however, accused Canada of walking away from a nearly completed agreement that would have further lowered tariffs on Canadian exports to the US market.
“Under President Trump, Canada has had the lowest tariffs for its exports to the US market. At the last minute, Canada walked away from a nearly completed deal that would have lowered these tariffs even further,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in remarks published by his office.
“Despite the US offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days,” Greer said.
He did not provide details on the proposed agreement.
The United States and Canada are parties to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which governs much of the trade between the two countries and took effect in 2020.