Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said tariff talks with the United States can resume only when Americans stop spreading memes and start negotiating seriously. US trade representative Jamieson Greer countered that no negotiations are happening and that the impasse is more Canada’s emergency than the US’s.
Tariffs and threats escalate
The US has instituted 50 percent tariffs on 20 billion US dollars in Canadian goods. Canada threatened retaliatory tariffs worth 20 billion US dollars, set to begin on 8 September. The two countries’ trade talks collapsed just over one week before these statements.
Carney told reporters that when Americans stop doing memes and start being serious about discussions, Canada can engage. “It’s not constructive, but that’s their democracy,” he added.
Washington holds firm on stalemate
Greer told Politico that the choice is not between current tariffs and duty-free trade, and attributed the stalemate to Canadian demands including lower taxes on heavy-duty trucks. He said it was unclear whether Canada wanted a deal. Canada is the US’s second-largest trade partner.
