Washington (TDI): President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States is ending all trade negotiations with Canada, citing Ottawa’s digital services tax as the reason behind the move.
Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the talks were being scrapped “effective immediately” and warned that Canada would soon face new tariffs.
“Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating all discussions on Trade with Canada,” the US president wrote. He went on to describe Canada as “very difficult” to deal with on trade and said it would learn within a week what levy it would have to pay to continue doing business with the US.
While Canada passed the tax last year, American tech companies are now facing payment deadlines that could cost them billions of dollars. The Computer & Communications Industry Association warned that those companies are “on the hook for a multi-billion dollar payment in Canada” by June 30.
Read More: Carney Tells Trump: Canada is Not for Sale
Though Canada had previously avoided some of Trump’s broadest tariff actions, like the sweeping 10% duty imposed last April on most trading partners, it has been subject to a separate set of tariffs.
In recent months, Trump has slapped heavy new duties on imports of steel, aluminum, and automobiles, in a renewed push to protect domestic industries.
Read More: Trump Pauses Tariffs on Mexico, Canada
Last week, Canadian officials signaled that they were willing to adjust their own 25% counter-tariffs on US metals, but only if a deal was reached within 30 days. That window now appears to be closing, with Trump’s latest comments suggesting little appetite for further negotiation.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight.
