US imposes 50% tariffs on $20bn worth of Canadian goods after talks fail

Notably, the United States has put 50-percent tariffs on regarding $20bn worth of Canadian goods after trade negotiators from the two countries failed to finalise a trade agreement, despite three days of discussions in Washington DC.

Key points

• US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer pinned the blame on Canada, saying that it was "a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States".
• According to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, his country would match the new tariffs "dollar for dollar".
• The Trump administration had confirmed the tariffs in late July after the US president accused Canada of "discriminatory treatment of American products".
• Trump imposed tariffs on key imports from Canada early in his second term last year, prompting Ottawa to retaliate with a suite of countermeasures.
• "Canada declined to finalise the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week, " Greer remarked.

With a deadline imposed by US President Donald Trump expiring at 12: 01am Eastern Time (0401 GMT) on Saturday, US and Canadian authorities produced clear that an agreement had not been reached.

"In recent weeks, we made important progress towards improving Canada's position as having the best deal in the world with the US, " remarked Carney in an official note. "However, that progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians."

Carney rapidly outlined what his administration would do to protect Canadians from the impact of the trade war, saying that it would introduce over the next few days new measures to backing workers and businesses.

"Canada declined to finalise the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week, " Greer remarked. "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."

Meanwhile, the tariffs will hit regarding 5 percent of Canadian exports to the US, including electronics, industrial machinery, and dairy products, adding to pre-existing US tariffs on steel, lumber, and autos.

For context, the two countries have gone back and forth ever since, with Trump periodically introducing new tariff threats.

Notably, the Trump administration had confirmed the tariffs in late July after the US president accused Canada of "discriminatory treatment of American products".

But he had remarked to journalists on Friday that he anticipated a accord with Canada could be achieved – something that ultimately did not prove to be correct, for now.

Meanwhile, the tariffs will probable hurt numerous Canadian businesses exporting affected goods to the US.

"Tariffs of 50 percent would effectively price hundreds of Canadian goods out of the US market, " Julian Karaguesian, a lecturer and trade expert at McGill University in Montreal, informed Al Jazeera earlier this week.

Taken together, the developments around US imposes 50% tariffs on $20bn worth of Canadian goods after talks point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.