US talks with Canada collapsed before midnight and 20 billion dollars of Canadian goods faced 50 per cent tariffs. Mark Carney set matching duties for 8 September, while Unifor reached tentative General Motors agreements for 4,600 Ontario members.
Talks in Washington broke off on Friday night, shortly before the midnight deadline that brought the tariffs into force. The duty list covers some dairy products, alcoholic beverages, cement and hockey equipment. US Customs and Border Protection told businesses in writing that officers would check compliance as soon as the deadline passed. After that deadline, 20 billion dollars of Canadian goods ran into tariffs of 50 per cent.[1]
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he had suspended the negotiations because last-minute changes to the US terms were unfair and uneconomic. Canada's answer, he said, would fall on steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics from 8 September, with duties of the same size. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada had declined to sign terms agreed earlier in the week, and that Washington had offered reductions on steel, aluminium, autos and lumber.[1]
Unifor, Canada's largest private-sector union, said on Saturday it had reached tentative agreements with General Motors at four Ontario sites: the Oshawa assembly plant, the CAMI assembly plant in Ingersoll, the St. Catharines propulsion plant and the Woodstock parts distribution centre. The deals cover members of Locals 222, 88, 199 and 636, a total of 4,600 people. Talks opened on 10 August after the Ford contract was ratified; that contract carried wage gains of 3 per cent in each year of its three-year term. National President Lana Payne said the deals deliver strong income and benefit gains. GM master bargaining chair Trevor Longpre said the committee negotiated under tariff uncertainty and US trade pressure and came away with terms that hold the pattern set with Ford. The union's General Motors master bargaining committee endorsed the tentative agreements unanimously. Ratification votes follow on 29 and 30 August.[2]
