Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to speak publicly on Saturday morning for the first time since trade talks collapsed and the United States imposed 50 per cent tariffs on billions of dollars of Canadian goods.
Around 11 a.m., Carney will address reporters as he prepares for a 1:30 p.m. meeting with the premiers of Canada’s provinces and territories.
The tariffs had initially been set to take effect on Wednesday, before United States President Donald Trump delayed them by three days to allow intensifying trade talks to continue.
While the president claimed “we have a deal” with Canada, officials on the Canadian side were more cautious, pointing to disagreements on the finer details of legal language.
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Then, in a statement late on Friday, Carney said Canada was suspending trade negotiations and recalling its negotiating team to Ottawa, arguing that last-minute changes to the U.S. position were unfair, uneconomic and raised questions about the reliability of any agreement.
Carney said recent progress had not been enough to meet Canada’s objectives, which included preserving broad access to the U.S. market, reducing tariffs on key sectors and protecting Canadian businesses.
He also said Canada would match the new U.S. tariffs “dollar for dollar” and announce additional support measures for affected workers and businesses in the coming days.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, however, blamed Canada for the collapse of the talks, saying Ottawa declined to finalize a deal under terms agreed to earlier in the week.
As the trade talks collapsed, Canada’s premiers voiced broad support for Carney’s approach.
British Columbia’s David Eby said he was in favour of a tough approach and that Canadian “politeness should never be mistaken for weakness.”
On Saturday morning, Ontario Premier Doug Ford — who maintained his silence until after talks concluded — released a letter he sent to the prime minister earlier this week, advocating for “a coordinated dollar-for-dollar, tariff-for-tariff response and the continuation of existing countermeasures.”
Before the deal collapsed, Carney had asked premiers to restock American alcohol in provincial liquor stores, a move that would have taken away a countermeasure that has angered Trump.
— with files from Global News’ Sean Boynton, Alessia Simona Maratta & Jace Maki
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