“We were not prepared to compromise Canada’s sovereignty or undermine our key industries.
“We were not prepared to compromise on the protection of the French language and our culture.
“To our American colleagues, let’s be clear: for my government and for Canada, these issues were never on the table, even though the United States tried until the very last minute.
“In recent weeks, we made important progress toward a possible agreement that would have reinforced Canada’s position as having the best deal in the world with the U.S., including by securing the best terms in each of Canada’s most important strategic sectors and providing greater certainty about our future trading relationship.
“While we believed, earlier this week, that we were moving toward a mutually beneficial agreement, in recent days, the U.S. proposed new terms that were uneconomic, unfair, and undermined the net benefits to Canada, calling into question the reliability of any deal.
“In short, they asked too much and offered too little.
“More fundamentally, the cumulative effect of U.S. demands revealed the limits of their commitment to a true economic partnership. As a result, last evening, I suspended trade negotiations with the U.S. and directed Canada’s negotiators to return to Ottawa. They worked hard, in good faith, to the last minute to defend the interests of Canadians.
“Canada will match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses.”
Read Prime Minister Mark Carney’s full speech.