5 min readAug 28, 2026 07:09 AM IST First published on: Aug 28, 2026 at 06:50 AM ISTThere are moments in international diplomacy when the most audacious thing a country can say is “no”. Mark Carney has just provided one. The Canadian Prime Minister walked away from trade negotiations with the US after Washington put forward terms Ottawa deemed unacceptable, including demands that would have come at the cost of its sovereignty, key industries, French language and culture, and its freedom to negotiate with other countries. Carney’s formulation was blunt: The Americans “asked too much and offered too little”. He has also announced dollar-for-dollar retaliation against new US tariffs, making clear that Canada will not absorb American pressure without imposing costs of its own. He deserves applause.Canada sends roughly three-quarters of its exports south, into an economy roughly 10 times its size, and a sustained trade confrontation could put up to 90,000 Canadian jobs at risk. But Carney’s gamble is not without its logic. It rests on three key calculations.