Canada has suspended trade negotiations with the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday, citing insufficient progress in talks ahead of a deadline for new US tariffs.
Carney said Ottawa had worked to secure what he called a fair deal that would provide greater access to the US market and more certainty for Canadian businesses and workers.
“However, that progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians,” Carney said in a statement.
“As a result, this evening, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the US and have directed Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa,” he added.
Tariff dispute
Carney said Canadian negotiators had worked “hard, in good faith” to defend the country’s interests until the “very last minute”.
He said last-minute changes to the US-proposed terms were “unfair, uneconomic” and raised questions about the reliability of any potential deal.
Carney said the US intended to impose a 50 percent tariff on roughly $28 billion of Canadian goods at midnight.
“Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses,” he said.
Trade negotiations in Washington resumed on Friday morning ahead of the midnight deadline for the tariffs to take effect.
Both sides had previously said they were close to an agreement, with US President Donald Trump saying on Wednesday that a “very fair” deal had been reached.
Carney said Ottawa had made important progress towards securing what he described as the best possible deal with Washington, but that the remaining differences prevented Canada from meeting its objectives.
