Canadian PM vows ‘dollar-for-dollar’ tariffs against U.S. as trade talks collapse

What the report says

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney used a nationally televised address in Ottawa to respond to the collapse of trade talks with the United States, saying Canada would impose “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory tariffs on 20 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of American goods. According to The Independent Uganda’s report citing Xinhua, the countermeasures were set to begin on Sept. 8 and would apply across a range of sectors, including dairy, steel, appliances, pulp and paper, and electronics.

The report said the breakdown came after the United States and Canada failed to reach a deal, followed by a 50-percent U.S. tariff on 20 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of Canadian goods that took effect shortly after midnight on Saturday. Carney said negotiations had been close earlier in the week, but that last-minute U.S. changes made the proposed agreement unacceptable and raised doubts about the reliability of any future deal.

The dispute is unfolding against the backdrop of efforts to update the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA, the North American trade pact that replaced NAFTA in 2020. The article said the United States has opened formal talks with Mexico, while discussions with Canada have not yet started. Carney argued that Canada remains economically resilient and less dependent on the U.S., saying the country is creating jobs and attracting investment, though those broader figures were presented in his remarks and not independently verified in the report.