President Donald Trump said on Friday that the U.S. is terminating all trade discussions with Canada.
Trump cited Canada’s digital services tax on American tech companies as the reason for ending trade talks.
“They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also. Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately,” Trump wrote.
Trump said the administration will inform Canada within the “next seven day period” of what tariff it will pay to do business with the U.S.
The president added in his post that Canada is “a very difficult Country to TRADE with” and claimed that Canada has levied tariffs up to 400% on U.S. dairy products.
Following Trump’s announcement, the U.S. dollar gained 0.7% against the Canadian dollar.
Stocks pared their earlier gains on the news. The benchmark S&P 500 index reached an all-time high after rising 0.59% as of early afternoon, though it sank on the president’s announcement to a gain of about 0.33% as the market entered the final two hours of trading this week.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
