Prime Minister Mark Carney said that disagreement over lumber tariffs with the United States contributed to the collapse of trade talks on Aug. 21.
The two sides have offered conflicting accounts on what led to the failure of the trade talks, which resulted in Washington imposing new tariffs and Ottawa responding with counter-tariffs.
The prime minister told reporters on Sept. 3 that during trade talks his government was pushing for “real relief” from U.S. tariffs affecting Canada’s forestry sector, and was “not satisfied with what was offered, or the durability of what was offered.”
He added that Ottawa did not want negotiations to produce short-term gains for Canada that could be “taken away a few months later or a year later,” which he said was what Washington had been offering….