Politics
Trump Catches Canada Red-Handed, Brings Down The Hammer: ‘Terminating ALL Discussions’
On Friday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. is immediately “terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada,” following the imposition of a digital service tax on tech firms in the United States. Trump wrote a lengthy response outlining his decision to take this course of action on Truth Social.
In the announcement, Trump accused Canada of “copying the European Union” by imposing this “egregious tax.”
Here’s Trump’s post in full:
We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with, including the fact that they have charged our Farmers as much as 400% Tariffs, for years, on Dairy Products, has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country. They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also. Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately. We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven-day period. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
The back-and-forth between Trump and the Canadian government began in the early part of the year when the president imposed a 25 percent tariff on most goods Canada exports to the U.S. Canada responded with a 25 percent tariff on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods.
In March, President Trump expanded the tariff scope to target the steel, aluminum, and automotive sectors, imposing duties ranging from 25 percent to 50 percent on metals. Canada responded with “dollar-for-dollar” counter-tariffs.
President Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed to establish a new economic and security framework within a month. Talks had been ongoing until Canada opted to put this new tax on the technology sector in America.
The Canadian government had previously signaled its readiness to adjust its own tariffs by July 21, with the potential to increase duties on U.S. steel and aluminum if no deal was reached.
Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.1 percent in April, marking the second consecutive month of decline. According to analysts, their GDP is expected to worsen if the dispute persists throughout the summer.
Economists say that Canada must reach a robust agreement with the United States or risk exacerbating the economic strain its country is already suffering from.