US, Canada fail to reach trade pact to avert Trump tariffs

InternationalUS, Canada fail to reach trade pact to avert Trump tariffsBy AFP -Aug 22, 2026Add ARY News on GoogleUS, Canada fail to reach trade pact to avert Trump tariffsAAResizeWashington: Hefty US tariffs on some Canadian products took effect on Saturday after days of negotiations that went down to the wire failed to produce an agreement. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed that his country will match the US tariffs “dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses,” as officials said late Friday that Washington and Ottawa had not managed to strike a deal. The lack of a final agreement means that new 50-percent duties impacting some $20 billion worth of goods, or 5.5 percent of Canadian exports to the United States, came into force. Impacted products range from hockey sticks to cement. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday that “tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week.” That came despite Washington’s offers for tariff reductions in sectors like steel and aluminum, he added in a statement. A senior US official said there are no further scheduled meetings for now. The surprise announcement came after Trump said that the United States “should be able to have a deal with Canada,” citing his “good relationship” with Carney. After hours of trade talks on Friday, however, Canada’s top negotiator Dominic LeBlanc told reporters that officials still “have more work to do.” LeBlanc and Greer also met for around three hours on Thursday. Greer said that the Trump administration put on the table “significant tariff reductions on steel, aluminum, autos and lumber” in exchange for concessions from Canada. He said that Canada was also maintaining its “prolonged retaliation” against the United States, including prohibitions on certain American goods and services. Canada’s regional leaders said previously that the United States was particularly irritated by one retaliatory measure: the removal of US alco...