The gloves are off in the trade dispute between Canada and the United States with no talks scheduled and the negotiating team now back in Ottawa.
PM Mark Carney addressed the nation this afternoon, accusing the U.S. of changing the terms in the few days leading up to the Friday midnight deadline.
He says Canada could not accept what the U.S. was offering, nor could it give what they were asking for.
President Trump has imposed 50 per cent tariffs, so Canada will impose matching retaliatory duties to take effect just after Labour Day.
He says we are masters of our own destiny.
Ottawa will spend $25-billion to help businesses hit by the tariffs – that includes small, medium and large entities.
He also says the U.S. wanted to restrict Canada’s ability to enter into other trade deals.
He says Canada has signed some 20 new deals in the past year but the U.S. would have restricted us doing that – something which was unacceptable.
