Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Saturday morning that Canada will slap retaliatory levies on the United States beginning September 8, declaring the nation “at war” over trade after walking away from what he characterized as a “bad deal” imposed by Washington.
​Speaking at a news conference in Ottawa on Saturday, August 22, 2026, Carney addressed Canadians following the late-night breakdown of intensive trade negotiations on Friday.
The collapse immediately triggered new 50% tariffs from the Trump administration on nearly $20 billion worth of Canadian imports including steel, aluminum, auto parts, dairy, and consumer goods which took effect at midnight.
​”The new U.S. tariffs are designed to hurt us and divide us. They are a miscalculation,” Carney said during his address, adding that Canada would retaliate “dollar for dollar”. “Last-minute changes in the U.S.-proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal. We cannot accept what they have offered, and we will not give what they have asked.”
​Carney outlined several eleventh-hour demands from Washington that led Ottawa to suspend talks, including restrictions on Canadian auto production, limitations on Canada’s authority to strike independent trade deals with foreign nations, and challenges to domestic linguistic and cultural protections. Carney ordered Canadian negotiators to return home from Washington late Friday.
​From Washington, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer expressed disappointment shortly before midnight, placing the blame on Ottawa.
​”Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week,” Greer told reporters during a late-night press briefing. “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 past days.”
​Domestic support for Carney’s stance was swift. Ontario Premier Doug Ford backed the suspension of negotiations on Saturday, calling the U.S. terms “a bad deal” that threatened key manufacturing, auto, and steel sectors. “Donald Trump is trying to inflict pain on every Canadian; we will inflict pain right back,” Ford stated.
​Carney confirmed that specific target lists for the retaliatory tariffs set to take effect the Tuesday after Labor Day, will be detailed in the coming days alongside a comprehensive financial support package for affected workers and businesses.
