US President Donald Trump said Canada wanted “the benefits of being a State, without being one” after trade negotiations between the United States and Canada collapsed late on Friday.
In his first comments since the talks ended, Trump said the breakdown triggered new 50% US tariffs on a range of Canadian goods. He also claimed American farmers had been charged “massive amounts of Tariffs” for years.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded by calling the latest levies a “miscalculation” intended to “hurt and divide us”. Carney said Canada would match Trump’s tariffs “dollar-for-dollar” from 8 September, including duties on steel, dairy, appliances and electronics, and described the two sides as entering a trade “war”.
Tariffs, Scope And Retaliation
The new 50% tariffs apply to selected Canadian imports, on top of existing US tariffs covering Canadian steel, aluminium, automobiles and lumber.
They are limited in scope, affecting about $20bn (£15bn; C$28bn) of Canadian imports, equivalent to roughly 5% of Canada’s total exports to the US. The covered goods include wine, dairy, cement, clothing and hockey equipment.
Carney said Canada was retaliating “reluctantly” to protect its interests. He said details of counter-measures would be released in the coming days.
Both sides had earlier expressed optimism about reaching an agreement, but talks fell apart after each accused the other of making last-minute changes.
“We cannot accept what they've offered, and we will not give what they've asked,” Carney said.
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Dispute Over Deal Terms
Trump’s latest remarks echoed his past statements about making Canada the “51st state” of the US, a position that has drawn anger from Canadian leaders and residents.
Carney said the US wanted too much and offered too little. “They asked too much and they offered too little,” he said on Saturday. He argued that the situation should be understood as an attack: “You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked.”
The US trade representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News on Saturday that there were no plans to resume negotiations. He said the US had been prepared to reduce some tariffs as part of the deal that failed to materialise.
Carney said the US presented “unacceptable” terms that were too restrictive, including limits on Canada’s ability to sign new trade deals with other countries. He also rejected the claim that Canada made last-minute requests, saying: “We clarified what was on offer and were continually disappointed by the answers.”
Support From Canadian Leaders
Carney’s Saturday remarks were his first address to Canadians after he announced on Friday night that no deal would be reached. He accused the Americans of making “last-minute changes” that were “unfair” and “uneconomic”.
Leaders across Canada backed Carney. Doug Ford, head of the Ontario government, said Trump “can’t be trusted”. British Columbia Premier David Eby argued that US demands to restrict Canada’s ability to pursue other trade deals would “reduce us to the economic equivalent of the 51st state”.
The Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre backed Carney and said the new US levies were “unjustified”. Quebec’s premier, Christine Fréchette, warned that jobs would likely be lost and said measures would be introduced to support affected sectors. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, whose province has sought closer ties with the Trump administration, urged both sides to resume talks.
Broader Trade Talks And USMCA
The collapse follows more than a year of trade negotiations that had repeatedly paused and resumed, intensifying in recent weeks after a US-imposed deadline to agree or face further tariffs.
The US and Canada are also part of a mandatory review of the existing North American free trade agreement known as USMCA, alongside Mexico. The pact was signed by Trump in his first term to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement and underpins $1.6tn (£1.2tn) in annual trilateral trade across the three countries.
Earlier this summer, Canada and Mexico asked for USMCA to be renewed for another 16 years, but the US declined to renew it in its current form. Asked how Friday’s failure would affect the wider agreement, Carney said it was “certainly not good news”.
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23 August 2026
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