Donald Trump announces stopping negotiations with Canada and threatens a new tariff. The fee that angered the US president
Donald Trump. Credit Line: Andrew Harnik / Zuma Press / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump has stopped commercial negotiations with Canada and will soon announce a new tariff level that the neighboring country will have to pay, according to the declarations made by the US leader on the Truth Social Platform on Friday, CNN reports.
The decision to put an end to the discussions, which were in progress for several months, came after Canada's announcement on the introduction of a tax on digital services, said Trump, who described it as “a direct and flagrant attack on our country.”
“In view of this revolting tax, we conclude all the discussions on the trade with Canada, with immediate effect. We will inform Canada about the fare that will pay to do business with the United States within seven days,” said US President.
Tax countries on digital services can collect revenues from large companies operating online – even when the business is unprofitable. American companies, especially giants in the technology sector such as Meta, Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft, are disproportionately affected by such taxes, according to a report published last year by the Congress Research Service, an non -deartician organization.
Trump has criticized such taxes especially during commercial negotiations with other countries. The one in Canada is to enter into force Monday and will be applied retroactively from 2022.
Several actors from the Canadian private environment that CNN discussed have put pressure on the Government in order not to go on with this tax, fearing that it can lead to an escalation of commercial tensions with the US.
Canada is the main buyer of American goods, with imports of $ 349 billion in 2024. In contrast, Canadian exports to the US was $ 413 billion, representing the third largest source of foreign goods.
An eventual imposition of higher rates for Canada will probably cause the country to respond with higher taxes for American goods, a situation that will affect both savings.
Canada's government analyzes the situation
Prime Minister Mark Carn's representatives told CNN that the Canadian government is analyzing.
At the beginning of the second term, Trump threatened to impose a 25% rate for all Canadian exports to the US, with even higher rates for certain products.
However, at present, most Canadian assets are exempt from these 25%rates, as long as they respect the United States-Canade agreement that Trump negotiated in his first mandate.
