US President Donald Trump has just announced the complete termination of trade negotiations with Canada after Ottawa announced a plan to impose a digital service tax on large US technology corporations such as Google, Amazon, Meta, and Apple. Trump sharply criticized this action, calling it "a blatant and direct attack on the United States".
According to Trump, the Canadian government is not only copying tax policies from Europe to maximize revenue from US technology companies but has long "oppressed American farmers" with dairy import tariffs reaching up to 400%. Targeting the technology sector – one of the core industries of the US economy – is unacceptable.
In response, Trump declared that his administration will immediately cancel all ongoing trade negotiations with Canada. He also stated that within the next 7 days, Washington will announce a series of new tax measures to punish imported goods from Canada.
This decisive move is expected to increase trade tensions between the two neighboring countries, especially in a context where many countries are seeking to increase tax revenue from US multinational technology corporations. Canada's digital service tax could become a new flashpoint in the US-Canada trade war if not quickly resolved through diplomatic channels or renegotiation within existing trade agreements like USMCA.
