U.S.-Canada trade talks end in final collapse, making mutual tariffs unavoidable

[Financial News] Trade talks between the United States and Canada have failed to reach a last-minute deal, raising the prospect of a full-scale trade war between the two countries.
At the start of the day on the 22nd local time, the U.S. government abruptly imposed retaliatory tariffs of 50% on about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports.
According to foreign media outlets including The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Jamieson Greer, the USTR chief, told reporters that "the talks ultimately collapsed despite the U.S. government offering its best terms." As a result, the new tariff measures on Canadian products, which account for about 5% of exports to the United States, took effect immediately at 12:01 a.m. on the 22nd.
Reports said Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney strongly objected to the United States’ last-minute changes to its demands.
Carney said, "The conditions the U.S. side presented at the last minute were unfair and uneconomic, and they even called into question the credibility of any future agreement." He added, "Within days, we will impose the same scale of targeted retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products and announce support measures for affected workers."
The Trump administration had threatened tariffs since last month, citing Canadian provincial bans on U.S. liquor sales, protectionist policies for its dairy industry, and quotas and tariffs on U.S.-made automobiles.
The tariffs to be imposed this time will fall outside the framework of the existing North American Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the USMCA, and are expected to hit major items such as automobiles, steel, aluminum, and lumber.
Carney reaffirmed his earlier position that he would not accept a humiliating "bad deal," saying, "We have made significant progress, but it was not enough to meet the goals for the Canadian people."
With the talks collapsing, the future of the USMCA renegotiation, which now faces the risk of being derailed, has become even more uncertain.
[email protected] Yoon Jae-joon Reporter