Canadian prime minister suspends trade talks with U.S., setting new 50% tariffs in motion

BREAKING NEWSUpdated 2 minutes agoTrump tariffsTrump tariffsCanadian prime minister suspends trade talks with U.S., setting new 50% tariffs in motionThe import taxes will apply to hockey sticks, building materials, liquors and certain kinds of clothing.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney appears ready to authorize retaliatory measures in response to the latest import duties from Washington, potentially triggering an escalatory trade war with the United States.Sarah L. Voisin / The Washington Post via Getty Images fileShareAdd to GoogleAug. 21, 2026, 11:48 PM EDT / Updated Aug. 21, 2026, 11:51 PM EDTBy Steve KopackTrade talks with Canada collapsed late Friday night, setting in motion steep 50% tariffs on a wide swath of Canadian goods. The duties come into effect at the stroke of midnight.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 U.S. and have directed Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa,” Carney said in an emailed statement.The tariffs impact about $20 billion worth of U.S. imports from Canada, according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. The import taxes will hit everything from hockey sticks, to some building materials, liquors and certain kinds of clothing.Carney says Canada will immediately retaliate against the U.S. “Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses,” he said.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 U.S. trade relations met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for several hours.“We’re very close, we c...