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US-Canada trade deal collapses as tariffs begin

US-Canada trade deal collapses as tariffs begin

Washington, 22 August (Argus) — The US began collecting new tariffs on about $28bn of Canadian imports on Saturday, and Canada vowed to retaliate, after the two countries failed to reach a trade deal after months of negotiations. Trade negotiations collapsed late on Friday, prompting the US to impose new 50pc tariffs on commodities such as cement, plywood and paper. The impasse also means, at least for now, the end of an effort to reduce US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said he would match the tariffs "dollar for dollar", escalating a trade fight that President Donald Trump launched near the start of his second term by putting steep tariffs on vast amounts of imports coming across the border. "This evening, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the US," Carney said after negotiations fell apart. "Last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal." The US blamed Canada for the failure of talks, claiming Canada made "new demands" and walked back other commitments, despite being offered significantly lower tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles and lumber. "This is a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States," the US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a social media post. The collapse of the deal comes as Trump is facing political blowback over the high prices consumers are paying partly because of his tariffs. On Friday, Trump said he reached a deal allowing up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported without tariffs, which he said would lower beef prices. The latest 50pc tariffs will not apply to energy, potash or critical miners, but they will tack on additional costs on other key imports into the US. The failure of the trade talks also could derail Trump's hopes of reviving the Keystone XL crude pipeline. Trump, just days before the trade negotiations faltered, had said that under a deal Keystone XL "may be awoken from the grave" despite being cancelled in 2021. The administration had not offered details about a strategy to restart the project, which its developers abandoned years ago in favor of alternatives such as the 550,000 b/d Prairie Connector pipeline. By Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2026. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.