Greer blames Canada for Washington’s trade-war escalation

OTTAWA — U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says Canada is to blame for President Donald Trump’s latest escalation in the bilateral trade war, calling Ottawa’s counter-tariffs “senseless retaliation” after walking away from a near-final deal.

“After weeks of good faith and intensive efforts between U.S. and Canadian negotiators, Canada walked away from a near-final trade deal that offered better treatment than any other trading partner, and instead Canada chose to embark on senseless retaliation against the United States,” Greer said in a Sept. 8 statement. He called the new U.S. steps a “natural consequence” of discrimination against American exports from alcohol and dairy to motor vehicles.

Trump signed orders under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 that will bar certain Canadian imports — including motorcycles, some dairy products and alcoholic beverages — later this month, while carving out goods such as toilet paper, road salt and cement. The White House also directed USTR and the General Services Administration to strip about $50 billion of Canadian-origin products from GSA Multiple Award Schedules.

The escalation followed Canada’s dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs on roughly $28 billion of U.S. goods. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said pivoting away from the United States will come at a cost — but that staying locked into one-sided terms would be worse for Canadian prices, jobs and supply chains.