Ottawa, August 23, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced that Ottawa will impose “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth $20 billion from September 8, following the collapse of trade negotiations between the two countries.
In a nationally televised address, Carney said the counter-tariffs would cover a broad range of American products, including dairy, steel, appliances, pulp and paper, and electronics.
The announcement came after the United States imposed a 50 per cent tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods on Saturday. The measure took effect shortly after midnight, or 0400 GMT, according to Xinhua news agency.
Carney said the two sides had been close to reaching a mutually beneficial agreement earlier in the week, but Washington introduced last-minute changes that he described as “unfair, uneconomic and called into question the reliability of any deal.”
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He also criticised what he described as repeated US disregard for existing free trade arrangements, including the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), warning that such actions could undermine business confidence and complicate efforts to renew the agreement.
The dispute comes as the US, Canada and Mexico face the task of determining the future of CUSMA, the trilateral trade pact that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on July 1, 2020.
The United States has already begun formal discussions with Mexico on revising the agreement, while talks with Canada have yet to begin. On July 1, 2026, Washington declined to renew CUSMA for another 16-year term, triggering an annual review process until the agreement’s scheduled expiry in 2036.
Asked why Canada was entering another trade dispute with the United States, Carney responded: “Because we were attacked.”
The Canadian Prime Minister sought to reassure the country that its economy could withstand the pressure. He said Canada was creating jobs at four times the rate of the United States and that foreign direct investment had reached a 20-year high.
“Canada is becoming stronger and less dependent on America,” Carney said.
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