Canada rejects US trade deal

WASHINGTON, Aug 22: Hefty US tariffs on some Canadian products took effect on Saturday after days of negotiations that went down to the wire failed to produce an agreement.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed that his country will match the US tariffs "dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses," as officials said late Friday that Washington and Ottawa had not managed to strike a deal.

The lack of a final agreement means that new 50-percent duties impacting some $20 billion worth of goods, or 5.5 percent of Canadian exports to the United States, came into force.

Impacted products range from hockey sticks to cement.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday that "tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week."

That came despite Washington's offers for tariff reductions in sectors like steel and aluminum, he added in a statement.

A senior US official said there are no further scheduled meetings for now.

The surprise announcement came after Trump said that the United States "should be able to have a deal with Canada," citing his "good relationship" with Carney.

Meanwhile, the US imposed 50% tariffs on some Canadian goods on Saturday after the two longstanding allies failed to reach a trade deal, with each side accusing the other of derailing days of talks.

The tariffs that came into effect just after midnight (0400 GMT) on some $20 billion of Canadian goods - things like wooden ice hockey sticks that are rarely used anymore - are far from an economic game-changer for the largest US trading partner after Mexico. 

That represents just over 5% of Canada's exports to theUS
But the new tariffs mark an increase in tensions between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney, and will likely make broader talks to renew the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement more difficult.

Carney said he had suspended trade negotiations and Canada would retaliate "dollar for dollar" on the new tariffs.

"I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the US and have directed Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa," Carney said in a statement.

"They (negotiators) have worked hard, in good faith, to defend the interests of Canadians throughout these negotiations up until the very last minute," he said. 

"However, last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal."

Carney, the only person to ever run the central banks of two major economies, was elected last year on promises to stand up to Trump, and remains broadly popular. Polls show most Canadians oppose making any concessions to Trump.�"AFP, REUTERS