Mark Carney details last-minute US demands that derailed trade talks

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the United States on Saturday of making a last-minute "power play" by trying to restrict Canada's ability to strike trade deals with other countries, offering new details about what he said caused negotiations between the two sides to collapse. Carney said the U.S. introduced new demands in the final hours of negotiations involving Canada's other trading relationships, its auto sector and protections for Canadian culture and the French language. "The U.S. introduced at the last hours, in the last hour, efforts to restrict our ability to have other trade deals," Carney stated to reporters. When asked about U.S. motivations, he responded: "It's a power play. It's a power play and, you know, [it] becomes a question of sovereignty." The suspension of talks followed President Donald Trump's implementation of 50% tariffs on approximately $28 billion in Canadian goods. Canada announced plans to implement matching tariffs dollar for dollar, targeting steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics, effective September 8. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer disputed Carney's account, stating that "Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week" and accused Ottawa of introducing new demands. Carney countered: "In short, they asked too much, and they offered too little."