Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney outlined his country’s plans for “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory tariffs set to hit American exporters on Sept. 8, saying he is making the move “reluctantly” in response to the breakdown of trade negotiations with the U.S.“This is a focused response, a focused response to protect and defend our industries and allow them to compete with U.S. products in the Canadian market,” Carney said.After U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed on Friday evening, the Trump administration’s 50% tariffs went into effect overnight, expected to impact about $28 billion worth of Canadian products coming across the border into the U.S. Carney said he pulled Canada’s negotiators from Washington, D.C., after U.S. trade envoys made “last-minute changes” to the framework, though the U.S. has put the onus on Canada for backing away from terms the U.S. said both parties agreed upon earlier in the week.
Carney held a press conference Saturday morning to flesh out Canada’s side of the story and discuss his plans moving forward. The prime minister said Canada’s retaliatory tariffs will target the steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics industries. He said the retaliatory tariffs would also apply to the products the U.S. targeted in its Section 232 and 338 tariffs on Canada, which include goods like motor vehicles, aluminum, and alcohol, though Carney did not specify exactly which goods were under the act.“Canada will match Washington’s new tariffs, dollar for dollar, in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses,” Carney said.“In the coming days, we’ll release details of these new tariff measures, measures which will come into force the Tuesday after Labor Day,” he continued.With over two weeks until the Canadian retaliatory tariffs will take effect, Carney said the measures come “reluctantly,” though he argued he is “confident” the move is in Canada’s best interest as he is “rejecting a bad deal” and “standing up for Canada.”“We take this step reluctantly — reluctantly because we recognize that some of these measures will raise costs and reduce choice for Canadians,” Carney said. “Reluctantly, because we recognize that some U.S. companies and some U.S. states are innocent bystanders in a dispute that they did not want. Reluctantly, because this trade dispute is preventing Canada and America from doing so much good that we could do together.”U.S.-Canada relations have been rocky since President Donald Trump first introduced North American tariffs in 2025, throwing the U.S.’s long-term relationship with its northern neighbor into flux over trade concerns. Carney and Trump have traded public barbs throughout the past year and a half, but Carney upped his rhetoric, saying the U.S. “attacked” Canada to start the trade war.“We were attacked – like you’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked,” Carney said.U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News’s Fox & Friends Weekend on Saturday that the administration does not have plans to re-up talks with Canada. Greer also put Canada in the same boat with China as the two lone countries that have put retaliatory tariffs in place.US-CANADA TRADE DEAL COLLAPSES AS TRUMP’S 50% TARIFFS GO INTO EFFECT“We don’t have new talks planned with the Canadians,” Greer told the network. “We’re moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation. Remember, as President Trump has introduced a trade policy to re-shore American production and protect American jobs, two countries have retaliated against the United States: the People’s Republic of China and Canada.”The Trump administration’s 50% tariffs will affect a wide range of Canadian goods, including hockey sticks, automobiles, dairy, and alcohol. The U.S. tariffs on Canada took effect at midnight on Saturday.
