‘Canada wants benefits of being State without being one’: Trump’s 1st reaction after trade talks collapse
US President Donald Trump hit back at Canada after Ottawa suspended all trade negotiations with Washington, while reviving his “51st state” jab.“Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!! They have also charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of Tariffs. No more!!!,” said the US president on Truth Social.This is Trump’s first direct reaction since Canada PM Mark Carney ordered his trade negitiation team to return from US.This comes as Canada suspended trade negotiations with the United States after Ottawa rejected what Prime Minister Mark Carney called damaging last-minute demands from Washington “excessive” and ‘uneconomic’.Carney said the US had introduced new terms that would have reduced tariff relief for Canadian-made vehicles, restricted Ottawa’s ability to strike trade deals with other countries and weakened protections for Canadian language and culture. “In short, they asked too much, and they offered too little,” he said.Read more: Canada PM Carney explains why trade talks with US were suspendedOttawa had been prepared to drop its remaining retaliatory tariffs on US steel, aluminium and autos if Washington substantially reduced its own duties. Canada was also willing to encourage provinces to restore US alcohol sales, but Carney said the final US demands went beyond what Canada could accept.“We are masters in our own home,” Carney said, summing up Ottawa’s position. He also accused Washington of using “economic integration as a weapon” and said its “signature was written in pencil”.The breakdown came just days after both sides had sounded optimistic about reaching an agreement. Canada has now recalled its negotiators, while the US is imposing 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Ottawa has said it will begin retaliatory measures on September 8 and respond “dollar for dollar”. Canada’s tariffs will notably target the US steel and dairy industries.Read more: Canada suspends trade talks with US, PM Carney says will match tariffs ‘dollar for dollar’On the other side, US chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer said the administration had been forced to act after a year of Canadian retaliation. “We’ve said enough, and so we’ve taken countermeasures,” Greer told Fox News.Greer said Washington had offered to reduce tariffs on Canadian steel, autos and lumber, but Ottawa rejected the proposal. “They’ve always had the best deal, and they still would have an even better deal, but they didn’t want that,” he said.The latest breakdown has raised fresh concerns over the future of the North American trade agreement covering the US, Canada and Mexico. Carney said the failed talks were “certainly not good news” for the review of the agreement and had given Canada “a new perspective” on Washington’s expectations for the wider economic relationship.The two countries traded about $880 billion in goods and services last year, with nearly 72% of Canada’s goods exports going to the US. The latest US tariffs are expected to affect about 5% of what Canada ships to its southern neighbour each year.
