Canada to match US 50 percent tariffs dollar for dollar after trade talks collapse

Canada will impose matching tariffs on selected United States goods after trade talks between the two countries collapsed late on Friday and Washington activated 50 percent duties on roughly $20 billion of Canadian exports.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the last-minute changes proposed by the United States were unfair and uneconomic. He directed Canadian negotiators to return to Ottawa and suspended further talks.

The US measures took effect on Saturday and cover about 5 percent of Canada's exports to its largest trading partner. Affected categories include wine, dairy, cement, clothing and hockey equipment. They sit on top of existing tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminium, automobiles and lumber.

Carney announced that Canada will respond "dollar for dollar". The retaliatory list will include steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics. Details will be released in the coming days, with the duties scheduled to take effect on 8 September.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada declined to finalise a deal under terms agreed earlier in the week. He stated that new demands and walk-backs by Canada had upended the balance reached in recent days.

The two sides had been negotiating intensively since July after President Donald Trump threatened the 50 percent levy. A temporary pause was granted earlier in the week. Provincial leaders, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford, backed the federal response.

The breakdown adds friction to the broader relationship and complicates any future renewal of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Canada has long relied on integrated North American supply chains. The new duties raise costs for exporters on both sides of the border and introduce fresh uncertainty for manufacturers and agricultural producers.