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Trade talks with Canada collapsed late Friday night, triggering steep 50% tariffs on a wide swath of Canadian goods. The duties took effect at midnight.
NBC News reports that after weeks of talks, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that while important progress had been made, “that progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians.”
“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,” Carney said in an emailed statement.
The tariffs impact about $20 billion worth of US imports from Canada, according to the US Trade Representative’s office. The import taxes will hit everything from hockey sticks, to some building materials, liquor, and certain kinds of clothing.
The failure by American and Canadian trade negotiators to reach a deal came after nearly two weeks of furious talks.
Officials on both sides had seemed optimistic about a deal up until the very last moment. On Thursday, the Canadian minister responsible for US trade relations met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for several hours.
“We’re very close, we continue to make progress, and we’re going to stay here and do the work that is necessary until we get to that point,” Dominic LeBlanc told reporters as he left Greer’s office late Thursday.
Canadian negotiators met again with their US counterparts on Friday, and talks stretched until the final hours of the day. But ultimately, the two sides were unable to reach a compromise.
