WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday (Jun 27) abruptly cut off trade talks with Canada over its new tax focusing on US know-how companies, calling it a “blatant assault” and saying that he would set a brand new tariff fee on Canadian items throughout the subsequent week.
The transfer, which plunges US relations with its second-largest buying and selling associate again into chaos after a interval of relative calm, got here simply hours after Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, struck an upbeat tone on commerce.
It additionally follows a Jun 19 announcement by Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne that Canada wouldn’t pause its longstanding plans to implement a digital companies tax beginning Jun 30 on US know-how companies together with Amazon, Meta, Google and Apple, amongst others.
Trump, in a publish on his Reality Social media platform, referred to as the tax “a direct and blatant assault on our nation” and mentioned Canada was a “very troublesome nation to commerce with.”
“Primarily based on this egregious tax, we’re hereby terminating all discussions on commerce with Canada, efficient instantly,” Trump mentioned. “We’ll let Canada know the tariff that they are going to be paying to do enterprise with america of America throughout the subsequent seven day interval.”
Canada is the second-largest US buying and selling associate after Mexico, shopping for US$349.4 billion of US items final yr and exporting US$412.7 billion to the US, based on US Census Bureau information.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney mentioned on Jun 16 he had agreed with Trump that their two nations ought to attempt to wrap up a brand new financial and safety deal inside 30 days.
