Update on Canada-U.S. Trade

In the wake of the breakdown of trade negotiations with the United States last night, Restaurants Canada has been actively engaged in calls and closely monitoring developments. 

This issue has been a priority focus of Restaurants Canada as negotiations continued throughout the past week, including participating in a stakeholder briefing with Canada’s Ambassador to Washington, Mark Wiseman. With negotiations now having broken down, our focus has shifted to ensuring the restaurant industry’s interests are considered as the federal government determines the scope and implementation of its response.

The Prime Minister announced this morning that details of Canada’s retaliatory measures will be released in the coming days, with implementation planned to begin on Tuesday, September 8.

We have already been actively engaged with key government officials, including the offices of Finance, the Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, and Global Affairs, to ensure the restaurant industry is factored into the development of any retaliatory measures. This morning, we have been in direct contact with Finance Canada, including senior staff in the Minister’s Office and officials in Trade Policy.

Our experience with the previous round of retaliatory tariffs demonstrated the potential for measures directed at U.S. imports to create unintended costs for Canadian restaurant operators. We are reinforcing with government that these downstream impacts need to be considered both as decisions are made about which products will be subject to tariffs and in the design of the remission process.

We are disappointed that a deal with the U.S. was unreachable, and we are grateful to Canada’s negotiating team for their efforts.

We will remain closely engaged with key federal officials as the government’s response takes shape, while continuing to monitor developments and advocate to minimize unintended impacts on restaurant operators. We will keep members informed as further details become available.

Thank you,

Kelly