Sept. 7 (UPI) -- With time ticking down until Canada imposes stiff counter-tariffs on $20 billion worth of goods imported from U.S. companies, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday said no new trade talks were scheduled with American negotiators.
The Canadian levies were set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, affecting hundreds of items produced by U.S. companies, falling most heavily on U.S. swing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Ottawa says the scheduled tariffs are a "tit-for-tat" response to U.S. President Donald Trump's "Section 338" tariffs on Canadian imports to the United States, which he imposed July 20 and took effect on Aug. 19.
The chances for a last-minute deal seemed remote with hours to go before the Tuesday deadline.
Carney confirmed to CBC News there are no calls scheduled before the Canadian levies come into force. They include new duties on the steel, dairy and wood products produced in politically sensitive Midwestern states.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, meanwhile, warned last month the imposition of the counter-tariffs could prompt outright U.S. bans on certain Canadian products in response.
He blamed Canada for the situation, telling Fox News, "We offered them the best deal. They looked at it square in the face and turned around."
Carney's Labor Day message on Monday, meanwhile, praised unionized workers and criticized Trump's tariffs as "unjustified and unprovoked" while also touting his government's efforts to become "stronger and less dependent on any single partner.
"We are already giving ourselves far more than anyone can take away," the prime minister said.
Michigan, whose automobile-dependent economy relies heavily on cross-border trade with Canada, will be particularly vulnerable to the counter-tariffs. Democrats in the state are seeking to make the potential economic costs a prime issue in November's midterm congressional elections as well as in contests for statewide office.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, the Democratic nominee to replace term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, told CBS News Trump's Canadian tariff policy "has increased prices in Michigan more than any other state.
"What's frustrating to me in this race is that my opponent has been fully supportive of these tariffs," she said of GOP opponent Rep. John James, R-Mich. "He's voted multiple times in support of them, instead of in support of the people of Michigan. And that is cowardice, and that is not leadership."
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive Democrat running against Trump-endorsed Republican Mike Rogers for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, similarly framed the tariff issue in terms of higher everyday costs.
"People don't want to have to keep paying more for stuff that they need to buy. And this is the logical outcome of an illogical trade war. So here we are," he told CBC News on Thursday.