Trump Trade Chief Details How 'Best Deal in the World' Fell Apart — Canada Walked Away

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says a handshake deal was already in place when Canada came back asking for more tariff relief. "They looked at it square in the face and turned around," he told Fox News. The collapse has triggered a full-blown trade war, with 50% tariffs now in effect and no new negotiations scheduled.

WASHINGTON – A striking graphic circulating on Fox News this week captures a dramatic moment in U.S.-Canada trade relations: "TRUMP TRADE CHIEF DETAILS HOW 'BEST DEAL IN THE WORLD' FELL APART." According to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the account is accurate — and the breakdown was entirely Canada's doing.

Greer joined "Special Report" on September 3, 2026, to detail the negotiations that preceded the contentious trade fight between the U.S. and its northern neighbor. What he described was a deal that was all but done — until it wasn't .

"We offered them the best deal. They looked at it square in the face and turned around," Greer said .

What Was on the Table?

The U.S. offer was, by Greer's account, extraordinarily generous. In his interview with Fox News, he laid out previously confidential elements of the proposal that would have given Canada the most preferential treatment of any U.S. trading partner .

The offer included:

"I told them what we could deliver. I said, 'We could try to give you the best deal in the world on steel, aluminum, autos and help you out on lumber,'" Greer told Fox News. "These are things very sensitive for the Canadians, and we managed to move the levers of our government to give them that deal" .

The Handshake Deal That Unraveled

The negotiations appeared to be moving toward an agreement after a week of talks. President Trump had threatened in July to impose 50% tariffs on about $20 billion of Canadian exports, seeking trade concessions and changes to practices Washington considered unfair .

The tariffs were originally due to begin on August 19. Trump delayed them until August 22, saying the two countries had reached a "DEAL" that was "subject to the finalization of documents."

But over the following days, and particularly late into the night of August 21, that consensus crumbled .

According to Greer, by Tuesday night (August 18), there was sufficient agreement between the parties that they could announce they had found a path to a deal. President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney even shook hands on it "one evening" . But in the final hours, the Canadian side "just, you know, seemed to want more" .

"When they came back, they wanted more, they wanted more tariff relief. It wasn't good enough to have the best deal in the world," Greer said. "They wanted it to be even better… These are things we couldn't accommodate" .

Why Canada Walked Away

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney offered a very different explanation. In a televised briefing on August 22, he slammed the U.S. proposal as a "bad deal."

"We cannot accept what they offered and we will not give what they asked," Carney said .

Carney said Canada had agreed to meet many American demands, including pulling all its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. steel, aluminum and cars, and convincing provinces to restore sales of U.S. liquor, which most had banned. But the U.S. refused to include certain tariff exemptions for heavier trucks — a critical issue for Canadian plants of General Motors and Ford that manufacture heavier vehicles .

Greer disputed that the exclusion was a last-minute ask, saying he had been clear for weeks that medium- and heavy-duty trucks would be excluded from tariff relief, as they were the subject of a separate executive order .

Carney also said the U.S. asked for concessions that would affect Canada's culture and protections for the French language, and demanded that Canada remove tariffs on goods from non-U.S. trading partners without offering sufficient benefits in return .

"In short, they asked too much and offered too little," Carney said.

Greer rejected that assessment. He told the CBC that cultural issues were never a "red line" for the U.S. and that American negotiators were much more concerned about Canadian requirements forcing streaming platforms to contribute revenue to Canadian content. "It's like the farthest thing from a red line," he said .

On the heavy truck issue, Greer insisted he had been clear for weeks that medium- and heavy-duty trucks would be excluded from tariff relief, as they were the subject of a separate executive order .

Aftermath: Tariffs, Retaliation, and a Frozen Relationship

With the deal undone, the U.S. moved ahead with 50% tariffs on Canadian goods — including dairy, wine, lumber, construction materials, and furniture — that came into force on August 22 . Canada retaliated with dollar-for-dollar matching tariffs scheduled to take effect on September 8 .

"We will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect workers and businesses," Carney said .

In response, President Trump announced he would impose 50% tariffs on Canadian automobiles, trucks, auto parts, and steel starting January 1, 2027. He also signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America" .

Greer said the U.S. would not "sit down and take" further retaliation from Canada . Asked whether he was still in contact with Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister responsible for U.S. trade, he said they "don't have open channels right now" .

Republicans Rally Behind Trump

Despite some quiet concerns about the impact of tariffs on their re-election prospects, Republican members of Congress are publicly backing Trump's trade war with Canada . Dozens of GOP House members gathered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a closed-door meeting with Greer .

Texas Republican August Pfluger pinned blame for the trade war on Ottawa. "It's a war that is perpetuated by Canada," Pfluger told CBC News. "The Canadians need to get reasonable. They've taken advantage of the United States for a long time" .

Brian Mast, a five-term Congressman from Florida, also criticized Canada for the breakdown. "They were given the best possible deal, more generous than anybody else across the globe, and it's something that they turned their back on," Mast told CBC News .

The sole Republican who raised concerns about the impact of the trade war on voters was Ralph Norman of South Carolina. "What I hear in South Carolina is affordability," said Norman. "It all goes into affordability, whether it's this [trade war with Canada], whether it's tariffs, whether it's housing, gas." He said Greer expressed willingness to address how tariffs are affecting each state .

What Comes Next?

U.S. trade officials blame the breakdown on what they described as "new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada" that "upended the careful balance" of the negotiations . Greer said he has received some outreach from Canada but no formal negotiations since August 21 .

As for what comes next, Greer said the trade deal's future now lies "in Canada's corner" . However, the Carney government reportedly sees little chance of resuming trade discussions before the U.S. midterm elections in November.

"We were ready to do it. We gave them the best deal in the world. Did it give them everything? No. Did we have everything we wanted? No. That's how a deal works," Greer said .

The Bottom Line

The viral image captures a pivotal moment in U.S.-Canada relations. What was billed as the "best deal in the world" collapsed in a matter of days, triggering tariffs, retaliation, and a diplomatic freeze. Both sides blame the other. But one thing is certain: the trade war between the U.S. and its closest neighbor is far from over.