U.S. resumed trade talks with Canada on Monday morning, says Carney

The United States resumed trade negotiations with Canada Monday morning, after the country scrapped its tax targeting large technology firms.

Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed the news to reporters this afternoon. 

Carney said he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on the phone Sunday evening. He said the two decided to continue with negotiations, with the previously agreed-upon July 21 deadline still in mind. 

The two leaders decided at the recent G7 summit to reach some sort of deal on the trade dispute within 30 days. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the prime minister “caved” to Trump. 

“President Trump knows how to negotiate,” said Leavitt. “It was a mistake for Canada to vow to implement that tax that would have hurt our tech companies here in the United States.”

Trump said Friday he was ending all U.S. trade discussions with Canada because of the digital services tax (DST), which would have seen companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb pay three per cent on revenues from Canadian users.

With tax collection set to begin Monday, the policy would have left U.S. companies with a $2-billion US retroactive bill due at the end of the month.

Despite the move, Canada is still in active discussions with G7 allies to introduce an international tax, with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne leading that work, the PMO said.

“President Trump has once again leveraged the power of the American economy, the best and biggest in the world, to deliver a victory for American industries and workers,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to CBC News on Monday.

WATCH | Lutnick thanks Canada: 

U.S. commerce secretary thanks Canada for removing ‘deal breaker’ digital tax

In a social media post, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick thanked Canada for rescinding the Digital Services Tax on American tech companies, saying such a tax was a ‘deal breaker for any trade deal with America.’

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick shared a statement on social media on Monday morning praising Canada’s decision to scrap the tax. 

“Thank you Canada for removing your digital services tax, which was intended to stifle American innovation and would have been a deal-breaker for any trade deal with America,” he wrote on X.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said on social media Monday that Carney put his “elbows down” by cancelling the tax “at the 11th hour.”

He said that the prime minister should insist the U.S. immediately rescind softwood lumber tariffs in exchange. 

“We need to make gains for our workers in these talks,” Poilievre said on X.