US President Donald Trump terminates trade talks with Canada over Digital Services Tax
US President Donald Trump reignited the trade war by ending negotiations with Canada over it’s intention to tax US companies; a Supreme Court ruling hands Mr Trump a ‘giant victory’.
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President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced that he was “terminating” trade talks with Canada due to a looming digital services tax targeting large American companies.
“We have just been informed that Canada … 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,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social early Saturday AEST.
“They are obviously copying the European Union, which has done the same thing, and is currently under discussion with us, also. Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately.”
Mr Trump added: “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. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Canada is moving forward with plans to slap a three per cent tax on revenue generated by platforms like Facebook and Google — with looming tax bills made retroactive to 2022 and applicable to firms that rake in more than A$22 million per year.
The immediate impact of Mr Trump’s announcement was unclear — in part because much of the US-Canada relationship is governed by the USMCA trade deal.
The announcement did cause stock prices to drop on Wall Street, though the markets were still on course for a winning end to the week.
Trump previously threatened to slap a 50 per cent duty on the European Union over its digital services tax, but delayed implementation until July 9 to allow time for negotiations.
This story originally appeared in The New York Post.
SUPREME COURT RULING BOOSTS TRUMP’S AGENDAS
US President Donald Trump hailed a “giant win” after the Supreme Court curbed lone judges from blocking the Republican’s raft of controversial policies.The 6-3 ruling, with the court’s liberal justices all dissenting, stemmed from Mr Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship.
The court said individual district judges had likely exceeded their powers by issuing nationwide injunctions, which have also blocked a string of Mr Trump’s hardline policies on immigration, diversity and firing federal employees.
“The Supreme Court has delivered a monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers and the rule of law,” 79-year-old Mr Trump told a hastily arranged press conference at the White House.
Mr Trump said he would now proceed with “so many policies” that had been “wrongly” blocked, including stopping funding for transgender people and “sanctuary cities” for migrants.
His initial reaction to the ruling came in a post on Truth Social, welcomed it as a “GIANT WIN.”
US Attorney General Pam Bondi, standing alongside Mr Trump at the podium, said the ruling would stop “rogue judges striking down President Trump’s policies across the entire nation.” Mr Trump separately hailed a “great ruling” by the Supreme Court to let parents opt their children out of LGBTQ-themed books at public schools. Critics say the move threatens secular education by opening the door to religious objections.
The Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of Mr Trump’s executive order seeking to end automatic citizenship for children born on US soil.
But the broader decision on the scope of judicial rulings removes a big roadblock to Mr Trump’s often highly contested policy agenda and has far-reaching ramifications for the ability of the judiciary to rein in Mr Trump — or future US presidents.
Originally published as US President Donald Trump terminates trade talks with Canada over Digital Services Tax
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