Canada says will match new US 50% tariffs 'dollar for dollar'

Canada and the United States are once again at loggerheads over trade. On Saturday, 50% duties went into effect on some US$20 billion worth of Canadian goods, after a statement from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in which he called time on talks, recalled his negotiators and vowed retaliation. Last minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic and called into question the reliability of any deal. Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses. Top officials from both parties had been in Washington during the week, working down to the wire to reach an agreement before US President Donald Trump's three-day tariff delay expired. The US Trade Representative blamed Ottawa for the failure. Despite the US offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walkbacks over the commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days. The representative also accused Canada of maintaining prolonged retaliation by prohibiting certain US goods and foods, likely referring to some bans on American wines and spirits. Products impacted by the new tariffs include hockey sticks, cheese and cement, and make up 5.5% of Canadian exports to the US. It's a relatively small dint in the roughly 70% of Canadian exports that head across the border, but marks another sizeable blow to the country's once-close alliance, which has been deteriorating during Trump's second term. Carney has repeatedly claimed relations with its neighbour have been altered forever and has sought to reduce its trade reliance on the United States.