Washington, 22 August – The United States has imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on Canadian goods after three days of unsuccessful trade negotiations between officials from the two countries.
The new tariffs took effect after a deadline set by US President Donald Trump expired at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday. The measures will affect Canadian goods worth around $20 billion, or approximately Tk 25,000 crore, according to Al Jazeera.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Ottawa would respond with dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs. In a statement, Carney said Canada had made significant progress in recent weeks toward securing what he described as the best possible trade agreement with the United States.
However, he said the progress was not sufficient to meet Canada’s objectives.
Carney also said the Canadian government would introduce additional measures in the coming days to support workers and businesses affected by the trade conflict.
Meanwhile, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer blamed Canada for the failure to reach an agreement. He described the breakdown as “a missed opportunity” for Canada to strengthen its partnership with the United States.
Greer said Canada had refused to finalize a trade agreement based on terms that had been agreed earlier in the week. According to him, Washington had offered Canada better market access than that available to any other major exporter.
The latest tariffs will cover about 5 percent of Canada’s total exports to the United States, including electronic products, industrial machinery and dairy goods. Canadian steel, lumber and automobiles are already subject to separate US tariffs.
Trade tensions between the two North American neighbors have intensified since Trump began his second term. Washington previously imposed tariffs on several key Canadian imports, prompting Ottawa to introduce retaliatory measures on US products.
In July, the Trump administration announced another round of tariffs, accusing Canada of discriminatory treatment of American goods. Despite saying on Friday that he hoped a deal with Canada could still be reached, Trump and Canadian officials ultimately failed to reach an agreement before the deadline.
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