US set to impose 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian products as Canada vows retaliation

WASHINGTON: The United States was set to impose 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products early Saturday after last-ditch negotiations failed to resolve the latest strain in already tense relations between the historic allies.

President Donald 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.

But the political impact will likely be even bigger than the economic fallout. Canada has threatened to retaliate against any new tariffs with levies of its own, aggravating a trade fight between countries that sold each other $880 billion worth of goods and services last year.

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.

Canada vows dollar-for-dollar retaliation

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had suspended trade ‌negotiations and Canada would retaliate dollar for dollar on the new tariffs.

The decision by the U.S. administration followed three ‌days of talks in Washington between Canada’s minister for ‌trade with the U.S., Dominic LeBlanc, and U.S. Trade ‌Representative Jamieson Greer.

“I have decided ‌to suspend trade negotiations with the U.S. and have directed Canada’s negotiators to ​return to Ottawa,” Carney ‌said in a ​statement.

“They (negotiators) have worked hard, in ⁠good faith, to defend the interests of Canadians throughout these negotiations up until the very last minute,” he said. “However, last-minute changes ​in ⁠the U.S. proposed ⁠terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”