Canadian prime minister says U.S. sought to restrict Canada’s ability to strike trade deals with other countries.
President Donald Trump lashed out at Canada early Sunday in his first public comments since trade negotiations between the two countries collapsed, accusing Ottawa of wanting the “benefits of being a State, without being one.”
“Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“They have also charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of Tariffs,” he added. “No more!!!”
The comments come a day after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney suspended negotiations with the U.S. and ordered Canada’s trade team back to Ottawa as Trump’s 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian imports took effect early Saturday.
President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have traded criticism following the collapse of U.S.-Canada trade negotiations. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images / Getty Images)
For its part, Canada has vowed to retaliate.
Carney said Friday that Ottawa plans to match the U.S. tariffs “dollar for dollar,” with the levies targeting multiple sectors, including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics.
The duties are set to take effect the Tuesday after Labor Day, Sept. 8.
The prime minister on Saturday accused Washington of making a last-minute “power play,” saying the U.S. sought to restrict Canada’s ability to negotiate trade agreements with other countries.
President Donald Trump lashed out at Canada in his first public comments since trade negotiations between the two countries collapsed, accusing Ottawa of wanting the “benefits of being a State, without being one.” (Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
“It’s a power play,” Carney said. “It becomes a question of sovereignty.”
According to Carney, trade talks broke down after the U.S. introduced new demands involving Canada’s other trading relationships, its auto sector and protections for Canadian culture and the French language.
“In short, they asked too much, and they offered too little,” Carney said.
The Trump administration has disputed Carney’s version of events, arguing that Canada walked away from terms the two countries had already agreed to.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney greets U.S. President Donald Trump at the official welcome ceremony during the G7 Leaders’ Summit on June 16, 2025 in Kananaskis, Alberta. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)
“Our interest is in protecting American workers and protecting American supply chains. We’ve been offering to bring the Canadians along on that path, really to cut the tariffs on them on steel, on autos, even lumber, things that are sensitive for them,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Saturday on “Fox & Friends Weekend.”
“And they’ve always had the best deal, and they still would have an even better deal, but they didn’t want that,” he continued.
Greer said no additional trade negotiations with Canada have been scheduled.
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FOX Business’ Brittany Miller and Fox News Digital’s Madison Colombo contributed to this report.
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