President Donald Trump said in an interview on Sunday that he has no plans to extend the July 9 deadline he set for countries to reach a trade deal with the United States.
During a White House news conference on Friday, Trump said the July 9 deadline to impose “reciprocal” tariffs was not a fixed date.
On Sunday, Canada repealed a digital services tax on U.S. technology companies such as Apple, Amazon and Alphabet just hours before the tax was scheduled to take effect. The hope is to revive stalled trade talks between the two countries.
Canada’s Finance Ministry said Prime Minister Mark Carney and Trump would resume talks to reach a deal by July 21.
Trump said on Friday that he was breaking off trade talks with Canada and threatening to impose new tariffs on the country’s goods within a week, a threat he repeated on Sunday before Canada repealed the tax.
The sudden escalation in US-Canada relations comes after a wave of optimism on the trade front that sent stock markets to new highs on Friday. Most notably, the US and China are moving closer to a full tariff and trade deal, after agreeing to seal an informal understanding reached in talks in Geneva in May.
Countries from Canada to Japan are racing to reach an agreement by the deadline, which is just over a week away. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has hinted at progress being made in talks with major US trading partners.
So far, the only trade deal Trump has formally signed is with the United Kingdom.
