According to NBC, on the evening of August 21st local time, as the US-Canada trade negotiations collapsed, the US's measure of imposing a 50% tariff on certain Canadian goods officially took effect in the early hours of August 22nd, Eastern Time.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in an email statement, "Tonight, I have decided to suspend trade negotiations with the United States and have instructed Canadian negotiators to return to Ottawa."
Khan said that although significant progress has been made, "these advancements are not sufficient to achieve the goals we have set for the Canadian people."
According to the U.S. Trade Representative Office, these tariffs affect approximately $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, covering a range of goods from hockey sticks to certain building materials, alcoholic beverages, and certain types of clothing.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) quoted a senior government official as saying that the new tariffs officially took effect at 00:01 Eastern Time.
Khan said that Canada will immediately take retaliatory measures against the United States, imposing tariffs of equal magnitude to protect its own workers and businesses.
According to reports, the United States and Canada have conducted intensive negotiations for nearly two weeks. U.S President Donald Trump stated on the 18th that Canada and the United States had reached an agreement, with the final document still being finalized. The U.S side will postpone imposing a 50% tariff on Canadian goods by three days.
Until the last moment, both sides’ officials seemed to remain optimistic about reaching an agreement. On the 20th, Canadian Minister of Trade with the United States, Dominique LeBlanc, held several hours of talks with U.S. Trade Representative James Moriarty. LeBlanc once said that the two sides were very close to reaching an agreement.
According to the New York Times, Grier said at an online press conference on the 21st: "Tonight, Canada has refused to finalize the trade agreement under the terms agreed upon earlier this week. Although the U.S. has offered Canada the best treatment it can receive as a major exporter to the United States."
Grier said, "The new demands put forward by Canada and the breaches of other commitments have broken the delicate balance that was achieved over the past few days." He also said this is "a missed opportunity for Canada."
