The White House said President Donald Trump is ending preferential trade negotiations with Canada after the country rejected a U.S. offer and announced additional retaliatory tariffs.
In a statement Tuesday, the administration said Canada imposed barriers on U.S. vehicles, alcohol and dairy products and planned $27.6 billion in new tariffs on American goods.
The White House said the new Canadian measures include a 50% tariff on U.S. steel and aluminum and 25% tariffs on American fish and tools. It also said U.S. vehicle exports to Canada fell 22% over the previous year and alcohol exports declined 81%.
The administration accused Canada of maintaining restrictive dairy quotas and tariffs approaching 300% on imports above those quotas. It also cited an average annual U.S. goods trade deficit with Canada of about $50 billion over the past decade.
The statement characterized the dispute as a refusal by Canada to negotiate and argued that the United States has greater leverage because of the size of its economy and Canada’s reliance on the U.S. market.
The White House release did not include Canada’s account of the negotiations or specify what tariff or market-access changes the United States will impose next.
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