US President Donald Trump has lashed out after trade talks with Canada broke down, escalating trade tensions between both nations.
In his first official remarks after Friday’s deadlock in Washington, the US president wrote on social media: “Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!”
“They have also charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of tariffs,” No more!”
His comments came after the US imposed 50% tariffs on $20bn worth of Canadian goods, prompting country’s prime minister, Mark Carney, to promise to match them “dollar for dollar.”
On Saturday, the US tariffs came into effect ranging from hockey to tongue depressors. While trade experts have predicted that the tariffs could result in some job losses, the major impact is expected to be political, sparking new friction between the neighbors.
Carney told Canadian journalists that the country was at war with the US after Trump escalated the trade conflict by intensifying his tariff attack.
“You’re at war when you’re attacked, and we got attacked,” the Canadian prime minister told reporters in Ottawa. “We cannot accept what they’ve offered, and we will not give what they’ve asked.”
Carney was elected as Canada’s prime minister after mounting a comeback against Trump who has earlier suggested he wants to make Canada a 51st state with “economic force.”
The treaty which was signed by Trump during his first term governs about $2tn in trade each year in goods and services. Trump declined to extend the USMCA this summer after Canada and Mexico requested for renewal for another 16 years.
Carney said it was “certainly not good news” when asked how the US-Canadian breakdown in trade talks would affect the USMCA.
