Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is delivering speeches, holding press conferences and trying to justify his position following the collapse of negotiations between the USA and Canada.  Meanwhile, President Trump and his trade team are intentionally quiet.

In all high-stakes negotiations, deals and financial issues, the apex predators always know you make your point clearly and without reservation, you establish your terms and then you don’t say anything.  Total silence.  The first person to break the silence is the losing hand.  Once your terms are established you stay quiet and then let the other party talk, talk, and talk themselves to yes.  Silence is the power.

Mark Carney is telling everyone his position and trying to justify what has taken place.  Mark Carney is in a very weak position on both structure and substance of the issues. [I wrote a lengthy explanation HERE]

Within this segment Carney tries to explain what the USA requests were that Canada would not agree to.  He notes the U.S. wanted strict control over Canada’s free trade agreements (FTAs) with other countries.  What Carney fails to note is that this exists already, right now in the USMCA [Article 32:10 of the USMCA].  The U.S. has termination rights to both Canada and Mexico FTAs with other countries.  This is an example of Carney gaslighting Canadians.

In reality, Canada wants unlimited and unrestricted access to the U.S. market as if they were a 51st state.  However, Canada will not permit unlimited and unrestricted access to their market for U.S. companies.  This, Carney says, compromises the sovereignty of Canada. WATCH:

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I was confident the discussions would collapse because the Canadian position is based on lies, fraud and political denial.  Canada is playing politics hoping to retain their one-sided benefits and outlast President Trump into the midterm election.  Trump, however, has already executed the tariffs and the only thing remaining for him and Greer to do is trigger the six-month USMCA withdrawal. [Details Here]

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Moments ago, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered the news via his X account.  Discussions between the U.S and Canada have collapsed. All trade representatives are called back home.  The 50% U.S. tariffs against Canada are now in effect.  A trade war begins.

First, read the statement from Prime Minister Mark Carney, with the understanding that Carney is making the first statement because the news is exceptionally bad for Canada.  Worse than bad.

[SOURCE]

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This video from the Promethean Action PAC wraps in a few background details that most readers and followers of the U.S-Canada trade relationship will likely find interesting.

Susan Kokinda argues the dispute is larger than USMCA negotiations, portraying Canada as an “outlaw” that enables transshipment “smuggling,” fails to enforce forced-labor bans, and facilitates “snow-washing” through weak corporate transparency and money laundering documented in British Columbia’s Cullen Commission.

She contrasts U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s pro-development case for oil and gas as civilizational progress with Canadian Minister Mélanie Joly’s Chatham House speech promoting “geo-industrialization” and a Mark Carney-aligned “middle powers” strategy against U.S. and China “hegemons.” Kokinda highlights a House of Commons petition led by Green Party leader Elizabeth May to declare U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra persona non grata, and notes Joly’s outreach to U.S. lawmakers and cities during the trade fight.  WATCH:

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Earlier today following a meeting in Washington, D.C., between Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, both representatives delivered remarks to reporters.  There are no details provided, however, within his remarks, Greer says he is confident that a deal has been reached as they work to finalize the details.

USTR Greer notes the significant trade barriers between the U.S. and Canada appear to have been resolved. However, the devil is going to be in the details.  Greer noted they are putting together the documentation that will allow him to brief President Trump and congress on the proposals.  “While we certainly have eliminated some of the irritants we have had over the past several years, we are also taking a strong foot forward,” Greer remarked. WATCH:  

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Given the antagonistic nature of Canada and their dependency on retaining an assembly economy with access to the U.S. market, it will be interesting to see what non-tariff barrier positions the Canadian government is willing to put forth.

There is a lot of optimism in media surrounding the tariff pause and the remarks that have followed; but I would caution interested parties to be aware of the scale of the divide between the two sides.

President Trump’s remarks from today about the Canada-U.S. trade position are below.

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President Trump has paused the 50% tariffs set to go into effect against Canada at midnight.

According to media reports, after the Canadian trade delegation failed to come to a negotiated settlement on key USMCA terms, Prime Minister Mark Carney called President Trump earlier today to discuss the tariffs that were scheduled to begin tomorrow.

President Trump has announced a pause via Truth Social:

[SOURCE]

I’m curious to see how this works out.  Apparently, there’s something about the Keystone XL Pipeline in a deal.

UPDATE:

Congratulations Mr. President. The deal will include comprehensive market access for all American goods, economic security commitments, digital trade alignment, and many important provisions that will continue to protect our market and American workers, along with our Canadian… https://t.co/YSQ4rNmKAv

— United States Trade Representative (@USTradeRep) August 19, 2026

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The White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing released an extensive report this week identifying the major nations who enable China to transship goods into the U.S market in an effort to avoid tariffs.  [REPORT HERE]

Within the report several nations and regions are identified as being used by Chinese manufacturers to avoid U.S. customs and duty enforcement mechanisms.  However, both Canada and Mexico are cited as primary enablers of the process.

[SOURCE HERE]

The issue strikes at the heart of the problem identified long ago with the NAFTA agreement, and the problem only worsens when the USMCA provisions on country of origin are not enforced.

When you remove oil and lumber, the majority of Canada’s manufactured exports to the USA contain Chinese component parts and this has been the source of much friction in the current trade negotiations.  The manufacturing supply chain within all free trade agreements only works when the source of component goods is accurately recorded.

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The Canadian trade officials continue to misread the room.  Threatening the Trump administration with something the Trump administration benefits from, is not exactly the best trade strategy.

In the background the DOJ has just arrested a woman for her part in a trafficking operation, smuggling Indian illegal aliens into the USA through Canada {citation}.  Simultaneously, a petition within Canada to remove U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, is gaining support because Hoekstra is focused on American best interests and not looking out for the best interests of Canadians {citation}.

On the economic front, Canadian trade minister Dominic LeBlanc met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer for the third time in three weeks. However, it’s Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator Janice Charette, who also participated in discussions, making headlines with threats.

Janice Charette is telling the Canadian public that formal trade discussions with the USA will end if President Trump and USTR Jamieson Greer trigger the 50% tariffs against Canadian goods which are scheduled to begin on August 19th.

President Trump and USTR Greer announced last month the U.S. would begin 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian products. the tariffs are intended as reciprocal action for Canada’s counter-tariffs on U.S. automobiles and steel, as well as decisions by Canadian provinces to boycott American alcohol. {CITATION} According to USTR Greer the tariffs will affect approximately $20 billion in Canadian imports, representing around 5.2% of the $383 billion in goods the United States imported from Canada in 2025. USMCA covered products would not be exempt from the tariff.

Ms. Charette is reported to have made it clear if the U.S. goes through with the tariffs, the Canadians will pull out of USMCA discussions and walk away from renegotiating the trilateral trade agreement.

This is apparently the threat from Canada.  However, when contrast against the intent to eliminate the multilateral trade agreement, the threat carries terms completely acceptable to the Trump administration.

CANADA – Canada’s lead trade negotiator with the U.S. Janice Charette has warned her American counterparts that if the White House imposes new 50 per cent tariffs on Aug. 19, it could put further trade talks at risk.

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A Canadian intern at NATO military headquarters in Belgium was arrested for espionage.  The name of the intern is Chinese, but to protect the Canadian government from embarrassment the nation the woman was spying for remains undisclosed.  Go figure.

The Chinese influence operations within Canadian government and politics is a subject that has been disclosed over the past few years with a great deal of consternation inside Canada.   The intern was within the SHAPE operation.

SHAPE is a strategic headquarters. Its role is to prepare, plan, conduct and execute NATO military operations, missions and tasks in order to achieve the strategic objectives of the Alliance. {Source}

SHAPE is the tip of the NATO spear on what’s called Forward Land Forces (FLF), currently operating in Eastern Europe on a mission to support the Ukraine military objectives. {SOURCE}

So, this Chinese spy from Canada was operating inside the NATO military operation that was supporting the weapon supply system for Ukraine.

(NYT) – The authorities in Belgium said on Saturday that a Canadian intern at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s military headquarters had been arrested on suspicion of spying for another country.

The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office said the woman was “of Chinese origin” and was arrested on Friday. “She is suspected of spying on behalf of a third country and of being a member of a criminal organization,” it said in a statement, which did not identify the country or the criminal organization.

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In his most recent outline, Promethean Action PAC’s Mike Steger puts the U.S-Canada trade conflict into an accurate context where China is really the enterprise to gain or fail.  This is a very well presented segment worth watching.

CTH readers will note our long track of this dynamic.  In short, as NAFTA predictably evolved, and as the U.S. manufacturing base was deconstructed, suddenly things shifted.  Canada and Mexico became important as entry doors into the U.S. consumer market for the products outsourced by the destruction of the American manufacturing base.

Steger appropriately uses the auto-sector as an example because it is the easiest sector to quantify damage.  By playing the long game, China has thoroughly compromised the EU and U.K auto market. In 2025 China exported 1.2 million vehicles into Europe. Europe only exported 200,000 vehicles into China; a net trade deficit of 1 million vehicles in Beijing’s favor.

Chinese cars now represent over ten percent of all EU vehicles on the road, and this is only the beginning stage of the collapse of the EU industrial base that Germany and Brussels have only recently started to grasp.  The pace is irreversible at this point for Europe, and now China has turned their attention toward Canada.   This is why the U.S-Canada trade conflict matters!

Canada is the entryway to do in North America what China has done in Europe. WATCH:

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In the graph below, look at how fast things move once the foothold is established by policy.  This is stunning.

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The Canadian government has cancelled their participation in a joint U.S-Canada ribbon cutting ceremony because President Trump has hurt their feelings with a new tariff announcement.

It is the official position of the Canadian government not to join in any collaborative celebration.  This comes on the heels of the Premier of British Columbia, David Eby, asking his staff to revoke the Canada statement celebrating America’s 250th Independence Day.  Take that Trump! {{harrumph}}

CANADA – A planned joint ceremony on Friday between the U.S. and Canada marking the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge has been canceled after President Trump announced a 50 percent tariff on certain Canadian imports, including alcohol and dairy.

“In light of trade action threatened by the United States earlier this week, it would be inappropriate to proceed with a celebratory event between the two countries,” Jenna Ghassabeh, a spokesperson for Canadian Infrastructure Minister Gregor Robertson, said in a statement to the Associated Press.

“We remain committed to opening the bridge on July 27th, and to celebrating this milestone among Canadians on July 24th,” she continued. (read more)

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