THE US AND Canada, historic allies along an undefended border, fell deeper into a trade war marked by angry recriminations and new tariffs that are expected to raise prices for products in both countries.

Each side blamed the other for the collapse of negotiations in Washington late on Friday, leading the US to impose 50% tariffs on 20 billion US dollars (€17.15 billion) worth of Canadian goods and Canada setting 8 September as the start of its retaliatory penalties.

US President Donald Trump’s import taxes will hit about 5% of what Canada ships to the United States every year, ranging from hockey sticks to tongue depressors.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa would respond with targeted tariff protection for industries exposed to the new US duties, including some steel products. He also mentioned the dairy, appliance, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics sectors.

No further talks were planned. Whatever the eventual outcome, a loss of trust seems one of the earliest casualties.

Carney accused Washington of using “economic integration as a weapon” and said “its signature was written in pencil”.

Resorting to the language of battle, he said his country had been “attacked” by the new American tariffs.

“You’re at war when you get attacked,” he said, adding that Canada had the reserves, resilience and plan to respond.

Carney accused Washington of using economic integration as a weapon. PA PA

But to Trump’s chief trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, the US was compelled to act after a year of retaliation by its longtime partner.

“We’ve said enough, and so we’ve taken countermeasures. Our interest is in protecting American workers and protecting American supply chains,” the US trade representative told Fox & Friends Weekend.

Carney said Canada had been willing to drop remaining retaliatory tariffs on steel, aluminium and cars if the US substantially lowered its own, and to encourage provinces to restore US alcohol sales.

But he said Washington’s final demands went too far.

“They asked too much and offered too little,” Carney said.

Greer said the Republican administration was offering to cut tariffs on steel, cars and lumber, “things that are sensitive for them. And they’ve always had the best deal, and they still would have an even better deal, but they didn’t want that”.

As a result, he said: “We’re moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation.”

Carney said the US added last-minute terms that would have reduced tariff relief for Canadian-made vehicles, restricted Canada’s ability to strike trade deals with other countries and weakened protections for language, culture and sovereignty.

He said such demands were “unacceptable”.

The breakdown in negotiations marked a sharp reversal from two days earlier, when officials from the two countries sounded as if they were headed towards a compromise.

Ontario premier Doug Ford, who leads Canada’s most populous province, praised Carney for rejecting the deal, saying it would have hurt Ontario’s car, steel and manufacturing sectors.

Ford urged Canada to use “every tool in our toolbox” to fight the US tariffs.

The moves also call into question the future of a North American trade agreement covering the United States, Canada and Mexico that is crucial to industry in all three countries.

A steel plant in Canada. PA PA

Carney said the breakdown was “certainly not good news” for the review of that agreement and that the failed negotiations had given Canada “a new perspective” on what Washington wants from the broader economic relationship.

The political impact will likely be even bigger than the economic fallout.

The countries sold each other 880 billion US dollars (€754.46 billion) worth of goods and services last year.

The tariffs were initially supposed to kick in at 12.01am on Wednesday.

Trump extended the deadline for three days to allow talks to continue, but the countries could not reach an agreement in time.

The US and Canada have wrangled for decades over trade, poking each other over sore spots such as Canadian softwood lumber imports and US access to Canada’s protected dairy market.