‘Foolish to fight’: Trump admin escalates trade war warning to Canada after talks breakdown
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Foolish to fight’: Trump admin escalates trade war warning to Canada after talks breakdown")
‘Foolish to fight’: Trump admin escalates trade war warning to Canada after talks breakdown Photograph: (Credit: AFP)
The Trump administration warns Canada that a trade war will have a "devastating" impact, following the collapse of bilateral talks and the imposition of 50% US tariffs on Canadian goods.
The Trump administration issued a sharp warning to Canada on Sunday (Aug 23), describing Ottawa’s decision to retaliate in an escalating trade dispute as "foolish" and predicting "devastating" consequences for its northern neighbour. The tensions follow the collapse of high-stakes trade negotiations late Friday. The breakdown immediately triggered new 50% US tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, hitting approximately 5.5% of Canada's total exports to the United States.
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy argued that Ottawa is operating under a false premise regarding its leverage in the economic standoff. "We're great trading partners, right? But Canada gets the benefit of trading with the US way more than the US gets the benefit of trading with Canada," Duffy said. "To think that they're going to go to war with Donald Trump and actually win that war with the US, I think it's foolish on their part."
Duffy predicted that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would quickly return to the negotiating table once the full scope of the economic fallout becomes apparent. The comments follow a defiant stance from Ottawa. On Saturday, Prime Minister Carney announced that Canada had walked away from a "bad deal" and pledged matching counter-tariffs on US steel, dairy, and other key industries starting September 8.
"You're at war when you get attacked. We got attacked," Carney said, defending the retaliatory measures. US President Donald Trump pushed back early Sunday via Truth Social, accusing Canada of trying to enjoy the advantages of US statehood without the obligations. "Canada wants the benefits of being a state, without being one!!!" Trump wrote, while also criticising Ottawa's long-standing agricultural tariffs. "No more!!!"
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The diplomatic rift signals a major fracture in the bilateral relationship between the two long-standing trade allies, with neither side currently indicating a path back to formal negotiations.
