Trump trade war escalates as he says he’ll block deal with Canada | World | News
President Donald Trump directed a trade war with Canada, saying that he would suspend trade talks through plans for tax technology companies he calls “direct and open attack” in the United States. An angry Trump, the negotiations with Canadians on Friday, said in a statement on the real platform that he would “immediately put into force”.
Trump’s statement reads: “Trade is a very difficult country, Canada, our farmers for years to 400% of tariffs compared to dairy products, we have put a digital service tax on our American technology companies, which is a direct and more open attack on our country.”
The American leader added that he thought that Canada said that he did the same thing: “Based on this terrible tax, we immediately terminate all debates about trade with Canada.
The new Canadian tax on technology companies is expected to enter into force on Monday. Companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb will hit the income of Canadian users with a 3% tax. The tax will be applied retrospectively and at the end of the month, US companies will leave an invoice of $ 2 billion.
Trump’s oral Broadside against Canada has been the last Salvo in trade disagreements since he started to work in the White House in January.
The US President suggested that Canada could be absorbed into the United States and could be a 51st state. He also mentioned the previous Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor”.
Trudeau’s successor Mark Carney said on Friday that his country will “continue to carry out these complex negotiations for the benefit of the Canadians,” he said.
However, Trump later told journalists in the Oval Office that Canada was “stupid” to progress with the tax on technology companies.
He said: “We have such a power on Canada economically. We prefer to use it. It will not work well for Canada. They were stupid to do this.”
When asked if Canada could do something to restart the talks, he said that Canada could lift the tax and would be, but he said, “It doesn’t matter to me”.
Trump went to Canada for the G7 summit in Alberta last week, and Carney said he had set a 30 -day deadline for Canada and the United States.
Matt Schruers, General Manager of the American Computer and Communication Industry Association, said US companies support Trump’s hard stance against the new tax. He said: “We appreciate the decisive response of the administration to Canada’s discriminatory tax on US digital exports.”
Approximately 60% of US crude oil imports are from Canada and 85% of US electricity imports. Canada is also the largest foreign steel, aluminum and uranium suppliers to the US, and there are 34 critical minerals and metal to which the Pentagon is willing to obtain.
Approximately 80% of Canadian exports go to the USA.
