US, Canada fail to reach trade pact to avert Trump tariffs / Photo: SAUL LOEB - AFP
US, Canada fail to reach trade pact to avert Trump tariffs
Hefty US tariffs on some Canadian products took effect on Saturday after days of negotiations that went down to the wire failed to produce an agreement.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed that his country will match the US tariffs "dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses", after officials said late Friday that Washington and Ottawa had not managed to strike a deal.
The lack of a final agreement means that new 50-percent duties, set to impact some $20 billion of Canadian exports to the United States, took effect on Saturday.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters on Friday that "tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week."
That came despite Washington's offers for tariff reductions in sectors like steel and aluminum, he added.
The surprise announcement came after Trump said that the United States "should be able to have a deal with Canada," citing his "good relationship" with Carney.
After hours of trade talks on Friday, however, Canada's top negotiator Dominic LeBlanc told reporters that officials still "have more work to do."
LeBlanc and Greer also met for around three hours on Thursday.
Greer said that the Trump administration put on the table "significant tariff reductions on steel, aluminum, autos and lumber" in exchange for concessions from Canada.
He said that Canada was also maintaining its "prolonged retaliation" against the United States.
But Carney said in a statement that "last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal."
- 'Discriminatory treatment' -
Canada's regional leaders said previously that the United States was particularly irritated by one retaliatory measure: the removal of US alcohol and wine from liquor stores.
The White House had alleged "discriminatory treatment" by Canada against US alcohol, automobile and dairy products in introducing the duties.
They were originally set to take effect on Wednesday, before Trump issued a last-minute delay of three days -- citing major progress in talks.
Canadian negotiators have been camped out in Washington this week to firm up a deal that aimed to address various flash points.
Canada has been seeking relief from Trump's tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, which have battered the country's economy, forced job losses and strained what was once an iron-clad trade relationship.
Carney has repeatedly told Canadians that relations with the United States have been forever changed, regardless of what happens with an individual trade deal.
He says the country must diversify and reduce its reliance on the United States, which currently accounts for roughly 70 percent of Canadian exports.
Beyond the ongoing negotiations, the United States and Canada still have to agree on revisions to the North American free trade agreement, USMCA, which Trump declined to renew last month.
T.Lindner--BVZ
