WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump said Friday that he鈥檚 suspending over its plans to continue with its tax on technology firms, which he called 鈥渁 direct and blatant attack on our country.鈥�
Trump, in a post on his social media network, said Canada had just informed the U.S. that it was sticking to its plan to impose the digital services tax, which applies to Canadian and foreign businesses that engage with online users in Canada. The tax is set to go into effect Monday.
鈥淏ased on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately. We will let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States of America within the next seven day period,鈥� Trump said in his post.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country would 鈥渃ontinue to conduct these complex negotiations in the best interests of Canadians. It鈥檚 a negotiation.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 announcement was the latest swerve in he鈥檚 launched since taking office for a second term in January. Progress with Canada has been a roller coaster, starting with the U.S. president poking at the nation鈥檚 northern neighbor and repeatedly suggesting it would be absorbed as .
Carney in May at the White House, where he was polite but firm with Trump. Trump last week traveled to Canada for in Alberta, where Carney said that Canada and the U.S. had set a 30-day deadline for trade talks.
The digital services tax will hit companies including Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber and Airbnb with a 3% levy on revenue from Canadian users. It will apply retroactively, leaving U.S. companies with a $2 billion U.S. bill due at the end of the month.
Canada and the U.S. have been discussing easing on goods from America鈥檚 neighbor.
The Republican president earlier told reporters that the U.S. was soon preparing to send letters to different countries, informing them of the new tariff rate his administration would impose on them.
Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on as well as 25% tariffs on autos. He is also charging a 10% tax on imports from most countries, though he could raise rates on July 9, after the 90-day negotiating period set by him would expire.
Canada and Mexico face separate tariffs of as much as 25% that Trump put into place under the auspices of stopping fentanyl smuggling, though some products are still protected under the 2020 U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement signed during Trump鈥檚 first term.
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Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Paul Wiseman in Washington and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press
