The US-Canada trade talks could be restarted after President Trump ended all negotiations, as our neighbors to the north were holding out for a digital services tax. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wasn’t shocked by this move—the Trump team knew it was coming—but had hoped Ottawa would drop it. They didn’t, which led to this cessation of talks. Now, Canada has rescinded the talks, hoping to keep negotiations going (via Bloomberg):
Canada has withdrawn its digital services tax on technology companies such as Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc. in a move to restart trade talks with the US.
“Rescinding the DST will allow the negotiations to make vital progress and reinforce our work to create jobs and build prosperity for all Canadians,” Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champage said in a social media post late Sunday local time.
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The first payment for Canada’s digital tax was supposed to be due Monday. The tax, which was passed into law in last year, was meant to charge 3% of the digital services revenue a firm makes from Canadian users above C$20 million ($14.6 million) in a calendar year. It would have cost large technology companies billions of dollars.
Following Trump’s post, Canadian business groups and politicians reiterated their calls for the Carney government to drop the tax. Opponents had long argued the levy would increase the cost of digital services and invite retaliation from the US.
Trump took out Iran’s nuclear program, brokered an Iran-Israel ceasefire, brokered another peace treaty between Rawand and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lowered grocery bills, lowered inflation, lowered gas prices to its lowest point in four years, and the economy is booming. He also secured more defense spending commitments from NATO.
The wins keep stacking up.
JUST IN - Canada drops tax targeting U.S. tech firms; Carney to resume trade talks, aiming for a deal by July 21. pic.twitter.com/5547lNKhn8
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) June 30, 2025
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