On the 27th local time, US President Donald Trump abruptly announced that he would stop trade talks with Canada because of the “Digital Services Tax” on US technology companies, donald Trump called it a “Blatant attack”. Reuters said the U. S. Move would have slowed the U. S.-canada relationship back into chaos. At previous G7 meetings, Mr Donald Trump and Kearney, the Canadian Prime Minister, had met amicably and agreed to a new economic deal within 30 days. With a 90-day moratorium on so-called“Reciprocal tariffs” coming to an end, tariffs with the United States have become a key item on many countries’ to-do lists, japanese and South Korean representatives recently went to Washington again to negotiate on the tariff issue, but according to Japanese and South Korean media reports, the progress of the negotiations is still limited.
Canada retaliates
Canada’s“Globe and Mail” reported on the 28th that the first collection of the Digital Services Tax passed last year in Canada will be launched on Monday. The tax system follows similar policies in European countries, amazon, Google, Facebook, Uber and other US tech giants are expected to be affected by a 3 per cent tax on big tech companies offering digital services in Canada. The Wall Street Journal said the tax could cost U. S. technology companies billions of dollars. Canadian finance minister Shang Pengfei announced Tuesday that he will not delay plans to levy a digital services tax on technology companies.
In a post on social media platforms, Donald Trump said that “Due to this very harsh tax, we are terminating all trade negotiations with Canada with immediate effect”. In the post, he further declared that“Within seven days, Canada will know how many tariffs they will have to pay to trade with the United States”. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Donald Trump said negotiations would not resume until the Canadians “Correct their wrongs”. Reuters reported that the United States had prepared similar retaliatory measures against European countries that impose digital taxes.
According to the Globe and Mail, the Canadian Prime Minister was in talks with the canadian-n Relations Advisory Council when Mr Trans made the threat. The Prime Minister’s office indicated in a statement that negotiations would continue, but did not specify whether to adjust the digital services tax policy. Canadian Senator Hassan Yusuf, a member of the Kearney Administration’s Advisory Committee on canada-us Relations, told the globe and mail that Donald Trump’s move on the 27th was a pressure tactic and that Canada should not be “Hooked”. “He just wants to get the upper hand in the negotiations and use that to keep the pressure on us,” Yusuf said
Canada retaliated against the United States late Friday by imposing quotas on some steel imports, NBC reported, and a 50% surcharge on steel products that exceed the quota. Canada’s finance minister said the move was aimed at protecting industry from“Unfair us tariffs”.
Japanese and South Korean officials visited the U. S. to negotiate, but with limited results
Japan and South Korea, important trading partners of the United States, have also been accelerating trade negotiations with the United States. According to South Korea’s“Daily business” reported on the 28th, South Korea’s new government came to power after the first high-level trade talks with the United States entered a sprint phase. South Korea’s Ministry of Industry, trade and resources, trade and negotiation minister Lu Hanjiu visited Washington on the 22nd, and on the 27th local time, said in a discussion with South Korean media, south Korea has told the US it is“Ready to speed up negotiations from now on” and stressed that the talks are not just a tariff issue, but also a strategic opportunity to build a“Korea-us Partnership for the revival of manufacturing”.
Lu said the ROK wants to include in the negotiations all tariffs on key products such as mutual tariffs, tariffs on cars and steel, as well as possible additional punitive tariffs in the future. However, the US side still showed reservations in some areas, especially on the ROK’s“Package of negotiations” intention has not yet clearly stated.
South Korea is cautious about the outcome of the talks. Senior government figures said the situation remained “Very serious” and that Donald Trump was likely to make a last-minute decision on whether to extend the suspension. The The Hankyoreh said the US might “Discriminate” in its approach to negotiations, and South Korea could be excluded from the extension if it failed to show good faith. There are views that the United States may use issues such as digital taxes to pressure South Korea, causing more friction.
Japanese economic regeneration minister Akira Akira held tariff negotiations with United States Department of Commerce Lutnik in Washington on the morning of July 27 local time. This is Akira’s 7th visit to the US for ministerial-level tariff negotiations, but the talks have not made substantial progress towards an agreement.
Akira Akira, Japan’s Minister of Economic Regeneration, was leaving the United States Department of Commerce after talks with the US yesterday. This is his seventh visit to the United States for ministerial-level tariff negotiations. Visual China
Japan has made tariffs on cars a top priority, but the prospect of a deal remains unclear amid reports that the US has been negative about scrapping tariffs or slashing them. The Japanese government said the talks were“Constructive” but only at the level of“Continuing active negotiations to reach an agreement”, with the two sides still unable to narrow their differences over car tariffs.
The planned meeting with the United States Secretary of the Treasury on the 27th also failed to materialise. The Japanese side is coordinating to arrange the meeting after the 28th, and Akira is postponing his return trip for this reason.
So far, the Japanese have used increased imports of US liquefied natural gas and agricultural products such as soyabeans, and reverse imports of US cars as bargaining chips, as well as increased sharing of shipbuilding technology, rare earth resources and other trump cards, Japanese media said, but there has been no consensus on car tariffs.
“The timetable set before is becoming increasingly impossible to achieve.”
(CNN) — with only a week and a half to go before the 90-day suspension of the so-called “Reciprocal tariffs,” the CNN is expected to close, time is running out for the White House to negotiate and reach a deal with its trading partners. In addition to the framework of the only two trade deals signed so far, there are dozens more to be done before the July 9 deadline, making the timelines previously set by the US administration increasingly impossible to meet.
The Globe and Mail quoted Toronto trade lawyer Lawrence Herman as warning, ottawa must not give up its leverage by threatening: “Giving in would significantly weaken our negotiating position with the United States and would damage the relationship with Europe.”
“Countries certainly don’t want to see a big Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China of US tariffs as the suspension expires,” Wang Mi Zhou, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the Global Times on the 29th. These countries will take corresponding measures based on industrial advantage or resource advantage, as a bargaining chip with the United States, and strive for their own favorable situation.
Donald Trump told reporters on Friday that the July deadline was still flexible. “The Donald Trump administration has recognised that the prospects for negotiations are complex, that a trade deal is harder to reach and that there is a good chance that the tariff date will be extended,” said Mi Zhou, who said the domestic economy was under a lot of pressure, this increases the chances that Donald Trump will delay the tariffs.