Canada announces that equivalent retaliatory tariffs against the United States will take effect on September 8th

Ottawa, August 22 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Carney delivered a nationally televised speech on August 22, fully clarifying Canada's position on the breakdown of the US Canada trade negotiations. Carney announced that, given the US imposing a 50% tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, Canada's retaliatory tariff plan will officially come into effect on September 8th.

Carney stated that countermeasures will cover multiple areas such as dairy products, steel, home appliances, pulp and paper, and electronic products.

When asked why the negotiations were interrupted at the last minute, Carney said that although the two sides were close to reaching a mutually beneficial agreement earlier this week, the US proposed new terms at the last minute that were uneconomical, unfair, and greatly damaging to Canadian interests, attempting to limit Canada's ability to reach new trade agreements with other countries and Canada's protection of its language, culture, and sovereignty. The proposed automotive industry terms were also extremely unfair.

Carney said that the US has repeatedly ignored existing free trade agreements such as the US Mexico Canada Agreement, sending a very bad signal to the outside world. When asked why he chose to implement retaliatory tariffs, Carney said, "Because we were attacked

Carney reiterated his confidence in the resilience of the national economy. He said that Canada is creating jobs four times faster than the United States, foreign direct investment has reached a 20-year high, and "Canada is becoming stronger and less dependent on the United States.

Carney said, "The new tariffs imposed by the US are aimed at harming and dividing us, but this is a complete misjudgment. Last year, I warned that the US was trying to defeat us in order to control us. I promised that this would never happen, and we are fulfilling that promise - Canadians will always control their own destiny