THE VIEW | On US-Canada Trade Talks' Fall: The Price to Pay to Stand Up for Canada

Canada has always answered the call. This week, for the first time in a long while, we answered one of our own.

For years, Canada has been content to be accommodating. Polite. Flexible. The reliable partner who never quite demands anything in return. That era is over. When Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from the negotiating table on Friday evening, he did something that Canada has needed for a long time. He said no.

The talks collapsed after nearly two weeks of intensive negotiations in Washington. Carney described the breakdown as the result of demands from the Trump administration that were "uneconomic" and "unfair." In his words: "We cannot accept what they have offered, and we will not give what they have asked."

The United States imposed 50 per cent tariffs on roughly £10.6 billion (C$20 billion) worth of Canadian goods, covering everything from hockey equipment to building materials, clothing and alcohol. Canada's retaliatory tariffs, concentrated on American steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp, paper and electronics, take effect on 8 September.

This is not where anyone wanted to be.

The administration had postponed the original deadline just hours before it was due to take effect, with President Trump writing on social media that the two sides "have a DEAL!"

They did not.

The cost is real, and it has to be borne.

Canada will feel this. Most businesses will be affected. Small and medium enterprises across the country will be looking for new markets, and they will need them now, not in three years' time. The energy industry, which supplies 99 per cent of America's natural gas imports, 85 per cent of its electricity imports and 60 per cent of its crude oil imports, remains exempt from the new tariffs. Canada is unlikely to cut that arrangement. We do not want open conflict. But we are in an economic war, and the collateral damage from American trade policy will be felt from coast to coast.

Carney has been direct about this. The government has committed £13.3 billion (C$25 billion) to protect Canadian workers and businesses affected by the tariffs. That includes investment in equipment, productivity and supply chain resilience for small and medium businesses. It includes financing to keep large employers operating and retain their workers. It includes support for the hardest-hit industries to retool and pivot to international markets. And it includes direct relief for Canadian families through tax cuts on income, housing and fuel, alongside the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, which provides up to £1,005 (C$1,890) per family for 12 million Canadians.

As Carney put it: "We have the right plan to build Canada strong. We are on track and it is working."

Canada is in a stronger position than most people realise.

What often gets lost in the headlines is just how much ground Canada has gained since this trade war began. Growth is accelerating, with Canada projected to have the second-fastest rate in the G7 this year and next. Job creation is running at four times the rate of the United States. Non-US exports are up sharply and on track to double over the next decade. Foreign direct investment is at its highest level in two decades, running at twice the rate of Canada's nearest G7 competitor. And Canada now ranks as the most attractive country in the world for infrastructure investment.

At the same time, Ottawa is widening its economic relationships abroad and advancing a new pipeline of major projects across multiple investment sectors.

In the past year, Canada has signed more than 20 trade and security deals across five continents, and Canadian businesses now enjoy tariff-free access to 1.5 billion consumers. Negotiations are underway to double that number through new agreements spanning ASEAN, India and a deeper security and economic partnership with the European Union . Carney has referred 27 nation-building initiatives to the Major Projects Office, representing £266 billion (C$500 billion) in new private investment: ports, mines and energy corridors from every region of the country.

Canada is not coming from a place of weakness. It’s strategy. We have the natural resources, critical minerals and clean power. Canada has what the world wants, and that is not up for debate.

Canadian Indigenous investment is part of that recalibration.

Tabatha Bull ICD.D, President and CEO of the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business, joined the Prime Minister's Advisory Committee on Canada-US Economic Relations this week, arguing that Indigenous businesses need to be included in support measures from the outset. Drawing on lessons from COVID-era programmes that initially failed to serve Indigenous businesses, she stressed the importance of having Indigenous organisations at the table early.

"Building Canada strong must include building Indigenous economies strong,” she said.

That principle is increasingly visible in Canada's investment pipeline. On 17 August, Carney announced a nearly £37.2 billion (C$70 billion) clean energy package with Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador, described as the largest clean energy investment in North American history.

On the Pacific coast, the £2.1 billion (C$4 billion) Cedar LNG project is advancing towards first cargo in 2028. Led by the Haisla Nation with Pembina Pipeline Corporation , it is the world's first Indigenous majority-owned LNG facility.

The same pattern is emerging across clean energy, critical minerals and major infrastructure. From the Labrador energy corridor to Indigenous-owned LNG, renewable energy projects and mineral development, Indigenous participation is no longer peripheral. It is increasingly embedded in the ownership and capital structure of Canada's strategic infrastructure.

Walking away from a bad deal is what is best for Canada right now.

Goldy Hyder, President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, shared their position: “No deal is better than a bad deal.” It backed the government’s negotiating position while urging attention to the businesses and workers most exposed to the fallout.

Canada does not want a trade war, and the economic relationship with the United States remains too important to dismiss. America is still Canada’s largest customer, and Canada remains America’s largest customer. The ties between the two countries run far deeper than the current dispute.

But walking away from a deal where America was asking too much and offering too little is the right call. A bad deal would have been worse than no deal, because it would have locked Canada into terms that undermined the very sovereignty and economic independence that are now driving the country's growth.

Canada faces difficult times ahead, but it’s the price we have to pay to stand up for what is right, and an economically stronger and more resilient country comes at a cost.

How much longer will our southern neighbour continue to put up with the damage to their reputation and economy?

The View is an editorial by Mark Magnacca, Co-Chair and CEO of the Canadian Indigenous Investment Forum.

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