Canada’s tariff response is coming into sharper focus as the country faces a fast-approaching U.S. deadline. Prime Minister Mark Carney said trade talks with Washington are intensifying before new American tariffs take effect on August 19, and he made clear that Ottawa is not ruling anything out.
After meeting with provincial and territorial leaders on Thursday, Carney said “everything is on the table depending on the outcome of the negotiations.” The Trump administration has announced new 50% tariffs on about C$20 billion worth of Canadian imports, a move that has pushed the dispute into a more urgent phase. Carney said Canada is weighing a mix of responses, including deeper efforts to diversify trade away from the United States and direct support for sectors most exposed to the tariffs. On retaliation, he said there is “a full range of things we can do,” but he did not spell out possible measures. He added, “We are going to support Canadian workers, families, businesses, full stop.”
The latest Canadian tariff response discussion reflects growing pressure inside the country for Ottawa to move faster and harder. Some provincial leaders are pressing for stronger action and quicker results from the negotiations. The new U.S. duties are aimed at goods the Trump administration says receive “unequal treatment,” with Canadian cars, dairy and alcohol among the areas at the center of the dispute. Consumer products such as wine and hockey sticks are on the list, along with industrial goods including cement. At the same time, several major exports are set to avoid the new duties, including energy, potash, critical minerals and fish.
The two countries now have roughly a month to settle the dispute before the tariffs begin. Carney framed that window as both a warning and an opening, saying the deadline is serving as pressure from Washington while also creating an opportunity to move the talks forward. For Canada, that means the next stretch of negotiations could shape both the immediate trade dispute and the broader relationship with its largest trading partner.
The conflict is not limited to the August tariff threat. On Friday, the United States imposed new tariffs on 60 trading partners, including Canada, over claims that they have not done enough to deal with forced labor. Most Canadian goods are exempt from those labor-related tariffs under the North American free trade agreement with Mexico, known as the USMCA. Canada’s Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a statement that the country has one of the world’s “most robust frameworks to prevent and address forced labour” and said Ottawa will keep engaging Washington on the issue.
