Greer to Canada: No Talks, No Deal — “It’s More Their Emergency Than Ours”

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Tuesday there are “no negotiations happening on trade right now” with Canada and that the standoff is “more their emergency than ours.” He told Politico it is “not clear Canada wants a deal.” The comments came more than a week after talks collapsed and after President Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian goods took effect. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s matching duties are scheduled for Sept. 8. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday on CNBC that Carney “chose to walk away” and was acting for the Liberal Party rather than “what’s best for the Canadian people.” Trump wrote on Truth Social that he does not want American businesses importing Canadian goods and called Canada “one of the worst abusers” in trade. Carney told Washington to “stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough” and to “start being serious” before talks resume.

The 50 percent levies rest on Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, a Depression-era provision authorizing duties of up to 50 percent on imports from countries found to discriminate against U.S. commerce. The administration issued three proclamations covering more than 550 tariff lines—wine, hockey equipment, cement, plywood, liquor, electronics, and other products—without a CUSMA exemption. Duties began at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Aug. 22 after Carney recalled negotiators on Aug. 21. The two sides dispute who broke a tentative understanding announced Aug. 18. Greer has said Canada returned with extra demands on trucks and other items; Ottawa said last-minute U.S. changes were “unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.” Canada’s Sept. 8 package is described as dollar-for-dollar and is slated to hit U.S. steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics at rates of 15, 25, or 50 percent, on top of existing surtaxes. Product lists were still being finalized. The U.S. duties cover roughly 5 percent of Canada’s exports to the United States.

On Aug. 27 Trump signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to list Lake Ontario as “Lake America” in the Geographic Names Information System within 30 days. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Trump asked Apple directly to update Maps. Apple Maps on Tuesday displayed “Lake America” for U.S. users; Canadian users still see Lake Ontario, and users elsewhere see both names—the same approach Google adopted over the weekend and that Apple used after the Gulf of America order. MapQuest declined to change the label. The lake is shared; Canada has said it will not adopt the new name. Greer declined to list conditions for returning to the table. Canadian retaliation begins next week.