US imposes 50% tariffs on $20bn worth of Canadian goods after talks fail | Trade War News
Canadian Prime Minister Promises Retaliation as Trade Talks Fail
By Al Jazeera Staff
Published on Aug. 22, 2026
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his government’s intention to implement retaliatory tariffs “dollar for dollar” following the breakdown of trade negotiations between the United States and Canada.
The U.S. has imposed a 50-percent tariff on over $20 billion worth of Canadian goods after three days of discussions in Washington, D.C., failed to yield a trade agreement. The deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump expired at midnight on Saturday without a resolution.
Carney stated that the recent negotiations had made significant strides toward enhancing Canada’s trade position but that they ultimately did not meet Canadian objectives. “In recent weeks, we made important progress towards improving Canada’s position as having the best deal in the world with the U.S. However, that progress has not been enough to meet our objectives for Canadians,” he said in a statement.
To mitigate the impacts of the tariffs, Carney indicated that his administration would soon introduce new measures aimed at supporting affected workers and businesses.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer criticized Canada for missing the opportunity to finalize the trade deal. “Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week,” Greer stated. He emphasized that despite U.S. offers for favorable trade treatment, new demands and reversals in commitments from Canada disrupted the progress made over the previous days.
The newly enacted tariffs will affect approximately 5 percent of Canadian imports into the U.S. and add to existing tariffs on steel, lumber, and automobiles. This new round of tariffs follows previous actions by the Trump administration, which had initiated tariffs against Canada early in Trump’s second term, prompting a series of retaliation measures from Ottawa.
The trade relationship between the two countries has been strained by ongoing back-and-forth tariff threats from the Trump administration, with a recent escalation occurring in late July after accusations of “discriminatory treatment of American products” aimed at Canada.
Despite expectations expressed by Trump that a deal could be reached, the latest round of negotiations ended without agreement.
