President Donald Trump walks on the Ellipse as he arrives on Marine One near the White House, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, in Washington. (Manuel Balce Ceneta | AP) Trade discussions between the United States and Canada broke down on Friday night, just before a midnight deadline that would have imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated in a message shared on social media late Friday that “Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses.” Carney noted that significant progress had been made recently toward “improving Canada’s position as having the best deal in the world with the U. S.” However, he mentioned that this progress did not meet Canada’s goals, adding: “as a result, this evening, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the U. S. and have directed negotiators to return to Ottawa.” Carney blamed the U. S. for the failed negotiations: “last-minute changes in the U. S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal,” concluding with: “Canada has what the world wants. And we will not allow any nation to determine our future.” Shortly after midnight, U. S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer replied to Carney with a statement posted on social media saying that Canada had “declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week.” “Despite the U. S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days,” Greer said. He added that earlier this week “the United States agreed to provide even better treatment to Canada, offering significant tariff reductions on steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber.” “The offer would have led to supply chain coordination on aerospace, complementary actions to address unfair trade practices, critical minerals cooperation, increased enforcement against imports produced with forced labor, and the announcement of formal U. S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations,” Greer said in his statement. This is a developing story that may be updated.
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