‘I can’t accept Canada being in a discriminate position,’ finance minister says
But Freeland said Thursday that Canada is engaged in conversations with U.S. counterparts to avoid this.
“Canada also has been and continues to be engaged in bilateral conversations with the United States about a win-win outcome for our two countries,” Freeland said during a press conference with reporters. “We believe that the way to achieve that is to negotiate in good faith, to negotiate creatively with our multilateral partners and with the U.S., and to also be strong.”
Freeland said that other U.S. allies, such as the United Kingdom, France and Italy, have already imposed DSTs of their own and have not been subjected to trade retaliation, and emphasized that Canada was being put in an unfair position.
“They are collecting revenue from international tech giants, and that is revenue they are using to invest in their people,” Freeland said. “I can’t accept Canada being in a discriminate position.”
Business groups in Canada have warned that the dispute could alienate Canada from its most important trading partner and will negatively impact Canadian consumers.
“The government should reverse its unilateral decision that is out of step with our allies, and instead, work with our trading partners on an international solution that would better serve Canadians,” said Robin Guy, vice president of government relations at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, in a statement on Thursday.
Canada had previously delayed its implementation of the DST in the hopes that a multinational agreement on the tax could be reached with other OECD countries. The two-pillared agreement still hasn’t been ratified.
“We have been very clear with the U.S., with our multilateral partners, about Canada’s position, and where Canada would need to go, absent a multilateral deal,” Freeland said.