Canada-U.S. Trade Agreement Negotiations Progress as Tariffs Loom Over Canada
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Canada and the United States moved closer Wednesday to finalizing a trade agreement that would avert threatened 50% U.S. tariffs. Trump has said the agreement was “very fair” to both sides and predicted U.S. farmers and manufacturers would benefit. Tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports have been postponed until 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
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CNBCTrump said Wednesday that Canadian tariffs "will be nonexistent for our farmers." The looming 50% tariff threat was partly based on Canada's alleged discrimination against the U.S. dairy industry. Canada has not confirmed Trump's claim.
MarketWatchU.S. President Donald Trump has held off on imposing new 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, saying his decision on Tuesday night to offer a three-day pause on the import taxes stems from American and Canadian negotiators getting close to achieving a new trade deal.
BBC BusinessPresident Donald Trump has hailed the possible deal as good for American farmers and manufacturers, while Carney has said the two sides are closing in on an agreement addressing "Canada's most important strategic sectors".
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Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had suspended trade negotiations and Canada would retaliate dollar for dollar on the new tariffs.
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Washington Times Business“Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement. The retaliation escalates the trade conflict and calls into question the future of a North American trade pact between the United States, Canada and Mexico that is crucial to industry in all three countries.
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Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, returned to Ottawa on Wednesday to meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was also set to chair Cabinet and a virtual meeting with provincial and territorial leaders.
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CNBC"We're very close," Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told reporters Thursday afternoon. "We continue to make progress, and we're going to stay here and do the work that's necessary until we get to that point."
BBC BusinessCanada-US Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is set to meet with his counterpart, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, again on Friday morning.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney said in an X post Wednesday, "We are now moving towards an agreement that reinforces that Canadian advantage, including by securing the best terms in each of Canada's most important strategic sectors and providing greater certainty about our future trading relationship."
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BBC BusinessPublished One of Canada's provincial leaders has criticised a prospective trade deal with the US and pushed his country to hold out for favourable terms, showing Prime Minister Mark Carney faces a tough battle in getting buy-in on the agreement as the hours tick down to a US-set deadline
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So Trump has looked for other legal authority to justify tariffs. To hit Canada, he reached back to the Great Depression, invoking Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to threaten 50% tariffs on products that account for about 5% of Canadian exports to the United States.
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CNBCThe looming 50% tariffs were invoked last month under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which lets the president impose duties in response to discrimination or unfair commerce. But the Great Depression-era law has rarely, if ever, been invoked, and it has been neglected for decades. This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
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“Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week,” Greer said in a statement.
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Washington Times Business“Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week. 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,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement read to reporters on a press call shortly before midnight.
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The tariffs were initially supposed to kick in at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. But Trump extended the deadline for three days to allow talks to continue, but the two countries still could not reach an agreement in time.
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The two countries had good reasons to find a compromise. Nearly 72% of Canada’s goods exports last year went to the United States. And the Trump administration might be wary of imposing a hefty new tariff - paid by U.S. importers who try to pass along the cost to consumers via higher prices - ahead of November’s midterm elections. American voters are already frustrated with the high cost of living.
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An agreement could clear the way for a broader trade deal The U.S. is renegotiating a North American trade pact - the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement - that Trump strong-armed America’s neighbors into accepting in his first term. The U.S. has begun formal USMCA negotiations with Mexico but not with Canada.
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"Let it sit on the shelf," he said. Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette, whose province is home to a large dairy industry, said on Thursday that she was analysing what the deal will mean for Quebec farmers before deciding on whether to restore US alcohol sales.
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Washington Times BusinessPremier Christine Fréchette also pushed back against quickly restoring U.S. alcohol to provincial stores, saying Quebec alone would decide whether American products return to shelves at the SAQ, the Quebec government corporation that controls most retail sales of wine and spirits in the province.
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The White House says the emerging deal includes a Canadian commitment to address restrictions on U.S. alcohol. But Carney cannot order provinces to restore sales.
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Eight of Canada’s 10 provinces restrict or ban U.S. alcohol - measures imposed in retaliation for Trump’s previous tariffs on Canadian goods and amid anger over his repeated talk of making Canada the 51st U.S. state.
8 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Bloomberg Mexico Optimistic it Can Achieve Lower US Tariffs on Cars, Steel Mexico’s top trade negotiator expressed optimism he can secure less burdensome tariff terms from the US on Mexican automobile and steel exports, similar to revised measures Washington is discussing with Canada.
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02 MarketWatch Washington Watch The U.S. and Canada are scrambling to avoid new tariffs and seal a trade deal. Here’s what could be in it.
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03 CNBC A senior Trump administration official said Section 338 tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods would go into effect just after midnight on Saturday.
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04 NPR Economy Audio will be available later today. NPR's Scott Simon talks to Peter Armstrong, senior business correspondent at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, about the collapse in US-Canada trade talks.
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05 Washington Times Business President Trump’s import taxes will hit about 5% of what Canada ships to the United States every year, including products ranging from hockey sticks to tongue depressors.
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06 Financial Times US and Canada haggle over trade deal as midnight tariffs threat looms Officials talk up prospect of agreement after Trump paused $20bn of new levies on North American trading partner
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07 BBC Business Still, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Canada "should fight" and not rush to make concessions.
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08 Epoch Times Business 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.
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