Trump’s Top Trade Representative Details Offer That Canada Refused

Trump’s Top Trade Representative Details Offer That Canada Rejected - The New York Times

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Trump’s Top Trade Representative Details Offer That Canada Rejected

In an interview, Jamieson Greer, President’s Trump’s trade representative, laid out details of what the United States offered to Canada before talks crumbled.

Listen · 5:25 min

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*Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, said Canada would have been given the most preferential treatment of any trading partner.

Credit...

Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times*

By

Ana Swanson

Reporting from Washington

Aug. 22, 2026

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The United States had offered to reduce its tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos, and eliminate a recently imposed tariff on Canadian lumber, before negotiations suddenly collapsed last night, Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, said Saturday.

In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Greer detailed previously confidential and unreported elements of the U.S. trade offer to Canada, saying those measures would have given Canada the most preferential treatment of any trading partner.

Trade talks between the countries suddenly soured late Friday night, following a week of talks in which negotiators appeared hopeful for an agreement.

Mr. Trump had abruptly threatened Canada with a 50 percent tariff on about $20 billion of its exports in July, in an effort to push the country into making trade concessions and removing certain practices the United States had deemed unfair.

Those tariffs were set to go into effect on the morning of Aug. 19. But on the night before, Mr. Trump delayed the tariffs until Aug. 22, saying that the countries had a deal, “subject to the finalization of documents.”

But over the following days, and particularly late into the night Friday, that consensus crumbled. It fell apart over a series of issues that, individually, may have seemed small but collectively represented a big division over issues of importance to both sides.

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