Carney says trade deal became untenable when U.S. 'asked too much and offered too little'

Prime Minister Mark Carney told his negotiators to walk away from the table after the Trump administration introduced late unacceptable demands on culture, autos and sovereignty that, when taken in concert with their overall approach to talks, revealed the U.S. was not interested in a 'true economic partnership' with Canada. "'We cannot accept what they've offered, and we will not give what they've asked,' Carney said on Saturday in Ottawa, adding that the United States 'asked too much and offered too little.'" "'It was unacceptable right from the start, but the Americans kept trying and trying and we said no. Ultimately it's simple. That was never on the table for Canada and it would not have been acceptable to Canadians.'" "The prime minister revealed that the U.S. had issues with Canada's subsidies for French culture; the prevalence of French-language media online and even the requirement to have bilingual labels on products sold in Canada." "'The U.S. introduced, in the last hours, efforts to restrict our ability to have other trade deals. Because we believe in free trade, we're the partner of choice, in many respects, for countries around the world, and Americans wanted to restrict that, they had language to restrict that. Unacceptable.'" "The prime minister's decision to recall his negotiators means threatened 50 per cent tariffs on a wide range of Canadian products kicked in at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Carney said Canada's dollar-for-dollar matching tariffs on U.S. goods will begin the Tuesday after Labour Day."