A vehicle crossing the $4.7 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge, connecting Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan, the day after it opened in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, on July 28, 2026. Carlos Osorio/Reuters
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Aug. 21 that new tariffs on Canadian imports will take effect as the two nations have failed to reach a trade deal.
“Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week,” Greer said in a statement.
“Despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk-backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days,” he added.
The new 50 percent tariffs on Canadian imports were initially set to go into effect on Aug. 19, but U.S. President Donald Trump paused them for three days to allow for further trade negotiations.
Greer said the proposed deal would have provided Canada “significant tariff reductions” on steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber, and would have established “a historic economic and national security partnership.”
“The offer would have led to supply chain coordination on aerospace, complementary actions to address unfair trade practices, critical minerals cooperation, increased enforcement against imports produced with forced labor, and the announcement of formal U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he has suspended trade negotiations with the United States and directed his negotiators to return to Ottawa after concluding that the talks did not meet Canada’s objectives.
“In recent weeks, we made important progress toward improving Canada’s position as having the best deal in the world with the U.S.,” Carney said in a statement.
“However, last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal,” he added.
Carney said Canada would respond to U.S. tariffs with matching tariffs “dollar for dollar” to protect Canadian workers and businesses.
He said his government recognized that “America has changed” and that the two nations “will not return to our old relationship.”
The new tariffs affect 5 percent of Canada’s exports to the United States, targeting certain goods in a number of sectors including dairy, alcohol, and other consumer products.
Washington said in July that the new tariffs are in response to Canada’s dairy supply management system, provincial bans on U.S. alcohol sales, and Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs on autos.
Canada has removed almost all retaliatory tariffs but maintained counter-tariffs on autos, steel, and aluminum, saying U.S. tariffs on those sectors violate the USMCA. Ahead of the Aug. 22 deadline for reaching a deal, the provinces had agreed to put U.S. alcohol back on shelves if negotiations were successful, while Ottawa had said the supply management system would be protected.
