Trump 'Terminating' U.S.-Canada Trade Talks Over Streaming Tax
'We have just been informed that Canada, a very difficult Country to TRADE with… has just announced that they are putting a Digital Services Tax on our American Technology Companies, which is a direct and blatant attack on our Country,' Trump wrote Friday on his Truth Social site.
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'Based 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,' Trump added.
Canada's digital services levy on American digital platforms was introduced last year and the federal finance department in Ottawa was set to start collecting the tax from foreign tech platforms as of June 30.
The bill for American tech players, which comes from a 3 percent levy imposed on their revenues from doing business in Canada and due on Monday, is retroactive to 2022 and could reach $2 billion annually.
With the major studios and film, TV and music streamers inextricably tied to the Canadian market, the digital services tax was always seen by Ottawa as likely part of a broader negotiations between the U.S. and Canada to set a new trade policy between the two major economic partners.
Compelling local American tech giants to put dollars into homegrown films, TV and music product via taxes on their revenues has long been sought by Canadian content creators. Trump ending talks with Canada follows the U.S. president and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney agreeing earlier this month after a G7 Summit in Alberta to pursue negotiations toward a new trade and security deal by mid-July.
Canadian politicians and lobby groups took Trump's latest social media posts and bargaining threats in their stride on Friday as just part of a likely roller coaster ride on the way to an eventual new and updated U.S.-Canada trade deal.
'We will continue to conduct these complex negotiations in the best interest of Canadians,' Carney told reporters in Ottawa. Candace Laing, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, which has opposed the digital services tax, added: 'The tone and tenor of talks has improved in recent months, and we hope to see progress continue.'
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