“Canada – USA Tariff Wars”

TORONTO—Prime Minister Mark Carney swept to power promising an “elbows out” stance against President Trump’s tariff threats and rhetoric, vowing he would never accept a bad trade deal.

Sixteen months later, Carney says he has avoided making a bad deal but critics say it has come at a cost: A series of trade concessions to the U.S. that are beginning to add up.

Carney has scrapped a digital-services tax affecting U.S. tech companies, rolled back retaliatory levies and halted streaming regulations opposed by American companies.

Carney was “swept” to a minority government, the WSJ is not a Trump fan.

The Trump administration’s announcement of a new round of tariffs on Canadian goods may be less of a reprisal over trade barriers and more about gaining leverage in CUSMA negotiations, trade watchers suggest.

Whether the measures are legal are not is open to debate, but that may not matter because for now they put Canada in a difficult position of whether to strike back and risk even further heightening the trade war or to try playing along with President Donald Trump’s game.

Canada’s dairy industry policy is among the most politically sacrosanct in the country. It has also long been a thorn in the side of Donald Trump.

Now, Canada’s dairy supply management system is back in the spotlight after the US president singled it out as one of three main irritants used to justify a 50% tariff on $20bn worth of Canadian goods imported to the US, which is set to come into effect in August.

Trump argues the system, which sees production quotas, set pricing, and import quotas on dairy, eggs, and poultry, is “unreasonable” to American farmers who want to sell their product north of the border.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s position in his trade dispute with Canada is that this country must absorb any and all unprovoked acts of aggression and possibly even ask the Americans if they can deliver more hardship, maybe even thank the president for imposing tariffs on us. It is difficult to draw any other conclusion from the new round of tariffs Trump has pledged this week to enact on Canada.

Canada has long cultivated the image of America’s friendly, free-trading neighbor. The reality is less polite.

Behind the maple-leaf branding is a protectionist system that singles out American farmers, distillers, automakers, and workers. Canada demands access to the American market while reserving the right to close its own when competition becomes inconvenient.

This is not how completion of the Gordie Howe International Bridge should have ended, with Canada giving in to another U.S. shakedown.

A few days before the bridge’s originally scheduled opening on June 15, U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his threat, first stated in February, to block the opening of the Canadian-built and financed Windsor-Detroit bridge.

Of course Carney lied … Text of Gordie Howe Bridge deal with U.S. contradicts Carney’s initial description

More … Read the full text of the Gordie Howe Bridge deal: ‘Proposed agreement in principle’

He lies because he can.

Mark Carney on the run. Why is this failure so popular with too many Canadians? https://t.co/Fex6ePNbEw

— David Krayden (@DavidKrayden) July 22, 2026

Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 – yes, that tariff act, aka the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, the law that famously turned a stock market crash into a worldwide depression – authorizes the President of the United States to impose tariffs on imports from foreign countries that impose “any unreasonable charge, exaction, regulation, or limitation which is not equally enforced upon the like articles of every foreign country,” or that otherwise discriminate “against the commerce of the United States.” The tariff can be anything up to 50 per cent.

Mark Carney’s strategy for the last several months has been simple: Avoid meaningful discussions with the Americans and wait for the midterm elections. The hope is that Democrats retake the House of Representatives, perhaps even the Senate, weaken U.S. President Donald Trump and deliver Canada a better deal.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to impose 50 percent tariffs on a range of Canadian exports has sparked alarm across the country. But according to a leading trade economist, the actual economic impact may be far less dramatic than the eye-popping headline number suggests.

On Monday, Trump signed three proclamations under Section 338 of America’s Tariff Act of 1930—a provision unused for decades—imposing the new duties in response to what the administration calls Canada’s discriminatory treatment of American motor vehicles, alcohol, and dairy products.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has agreed to “intensify” trade negotiations with the U.S. after President Donald Trump threatened punishing new tariffs on Canada.

Carney said he spoke with Trump on Tuesday morning following Monday’s announcement that the United States plans to impose 50 per cent tariffs on a wide swath of Canadian goods in 30 days.

Trump is asked "Last night, the Canada tariffs, one, are those a response to the wildfires in Canada? No, no, no. That's separate."

Trump: "Canada has been very, very tough on us over the years, for many years, and no other president has done anything about it. I love… pic.twitter.com/Ta9chDHtMO

— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) July 21, 2026

h/t Patti Jo

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford has vowed not to lift the province’s ban on U.S. alcohol and urged Canada to take an aggressive approach to looming American tariffs, declaring that “we could dismantle the U.S. if we wanted to.”

‼️JUST IN

Doug Ford says Canada could DISMANTLE the USA if all provinces work together: pic.twitter.com/9YFwamOkxo

— Tablesalt 🇨🇦🇺🇸 (@Tablesalt13) July 21, 2026

h/t Mauser, Clink and Auntie Polly

Donald Trump’s latest tariff tantrum, delivered the day after the World Cup finals, was a sucker punch to Prime Minister Mark Carney, who was seated with the President during the match.

The new measures, which were announced Monday, impose 50-per-cent duties on roughly US$20-billion worth of Canadian goods, from milk and cream to alcohol, hockey equipment and electrical machinery, and are set to take effect on Aug. 19. The administration cast them as retaliation for what it calls Canada’s unfair treatment of American dairy, alcohol and automakers. Tellingly, the list spares energy, potash and critical minerals – all things the U.S. urgently needs from us right now, along with goods already captured by the separate steel and auto tariffs.

The United States has announced a sweeping 50% tariff on Canadian goods, citing discriminatory treatment of American alcohol, automobiles and dairy products. The duties are expected to take effect Aug. 19 and, unusually, will reach some products that would ordinarily receive preferential treatment under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. Energy, potash, fish and critical minerals are among the reported exemptions.