Sky News interrupted for breaking news – Donald Trump will be furious
Sky News aired a breaking update on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney which will no doubt leave Donald Trump furious. The programme cut to footage of Carney speaking at a press conference, during which he announced that Canada would impose retaliatory tariffs against the US after negotiations between the two countries broke down. It comes after the United States imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods.
He said: "We believed earlier this week that we were moving towards a mutually beneficial agreement. In recent days, the United States proposed new terms that weren't economic, unfair, and undermined the net benefits for Canada and called into question the reliability of any deal. In short, they asked too much and they offered too little. More fundamentally, the cumulative effect of US demands revealed the limits of their commitment to a true, economic partnership.
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"They asked too much, and they offered too little."
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced the country will match 50 percent tariffs from Washington 'dollar for dollar' after trade negotiations with the U.S. broke down.https://t.co/1zh7ZtHgps
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As I said earlier, as a result, I suspended trade negotiations with the United States and directed our negotiators to return to Ottawa.
Carney thanked his negotiators who "worked hard, in good faith-right up to the last minute to defend the interest of Canadians".
He confirmed that Canada will match Washington's new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses.
"This is a focused response to protect and defend our industries and allow them to compete with US products in the Canadian market," Carney continued. "In the coming days, we'll release details of these new tariff measures."
The politician insisted that he has taken this step "reluctantly" because he acknowledges that these measures will raise costs and reduce choices for Canadians.
He added: "Reluctantly because we recognise that some US companies in some US states are innocent bystanders in a dispute they did not want."
Carney highlighted that this is preventing Canada and America from "doing good together".
He said the move was in Canada's best interests, adding: "By rejecting a bad deal, by standing up for Canada, by focusing on what we can control, we will build Canada strong for all."
Tensions between the two major trading partners have been simmering since Trump returned to office in January last year and introduced a sweeping global tariff programme, disrupting decades of free trade between Canada and the US.