🚨 ⚡ BREAKING: Congress BLOCKS Canada Tariffs — Carney Responds After Trump’s Trade Push | Buffett Weighs In ⚡

Washington, D.C. / Ottawa / Omaha – February 17, 2026

In a stunning rebuke to former President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade agenda, a bipartisan coalition in Congress voted this morning to block the implementation of proposed 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, effectively halting what could have been one of the most disruptive economic moves in North American history. The resolution, passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee by a 28–17 vote (with 11 Republicans joining Democrats), prohibits the executive branch from enacting new tariffs on Canada without explicit congressional approval — a direct response to Trump’s repeated calls for punitive duties on lumber, energy, critical minerals, and agricultural products.

The vote comes just days after Trump posted a Truth Social thread renewing his demand for Canada to “pay billions in back trade subsidies or face 25% tariffs on ALL goods.” The former president, removed from office under the 25th Amendment but still wielding enormous influence over Republican policy, framed the tariffs as necessary to “stop Canada from stealing American jobs and money.” His post triggered immediate market volatility: U.S. frozen-potato futures dropped 3.8%, softwood lumber prices in the Midwest rose 9%, and the Canadian dollar weakened 1.1%.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded within nine minutes in a live national address. Calm, precise, and unflinching, Carney announced that Canada would no longer treat U.S. market access as an automatic right. He revealed that Ottawa had finalized the “Indo-Pacific Prosperity Partnership” (IP3)—a trilateral trade, investment, and supply-chain accord with India, Japan, and Australia—and that the agreement would be signed within 48 hours.

The IP3 is far more than a symbolic gesture. It includes:

– Zero tariffs on 92% of goods traded among the four nations within five years
– A binding critical-minerals security pact giving Japanese battery manufacturers and Indian EV producers priority access to Canadian nickel, cobalt, and lithium
– Mutual recognition of food-safety standards that opens Australian and Indian markets to Canadian beef, pork, canola, and potatoes while granting Canada tariff-free access to Indian pharmaceuticals and Australian rare-earth elements
– A $12 billion joint infrastructure fund to upgrade ports, rail lines, and shipping lanes that bypass U.S.-controlled corridors
– A new dispute-resolution mechanism that explicitly excludes third-party (U.S.) participation

Carney’s message was unmistakable: “When our largest trading partner threatens punitive tariffs on essential goods, we do not beg. We diversify. We build new alliances. And we protect our workers and our sovereignty.”

Markets flipped in real time. The Canadian dollar surged 2.7% against the U.S. dollar—its largest single-day gain since March 2020. Australian and Indian mining and battery stocks rose 2.1–4.3%. U.S. agricultural futures (corn, soybeans) fell 3.1–5.4%, while frozen-potato processor stocks (Lamb Weston, McCain U.S. units) dropped 8–11%. The Dow, down 410 points at the open, closed up 380 points—a net swing of nearly 800 points.

Wall Street analysts described the move as “strategic decoupling in real time.” “Carney just turned Trump’s tariff hammer into a boomerang,” said a senior Bank of America trade strategist. “By locking in alternative markets for critical commodities, Canada has reduced its vulnerability to U.S. unilateral action and created a credible counterweight in the Indo-Pacific.”

The strategic brilliance of Carney’s countermove lies in its asymmetry. While Canada supplies only a modest share of total U.S. imports (about 18%), that share is disproportionately concentrated in high-value, hard-to-replace essentials: 60% of U.S. crude oil imports, 30% of natural gas, and critical softwood lumber used in housing construction. The U.S., by contrast, accounts for 75% of Canada’s exports — giving Ottawa far greater leverage to inflict targeted pain while pivoting to new buyers.

Acting President JD Vance’s economic team is reportedly in crisis mode. Trump-aligned advisors are pushing for immediate Section 232 national-security tariffs on Canadian energy and lumber; pragmatic voices warn that broad duties would spike U.S. gasoline prices by 40–60 cents a gallon and add thousands of dollars to the cost of new single-family homes — outcomes that would be electoral poison ahead of midterms.

The episode has become a defining moment for Carney — the former central banker who became prime minister in late 2025 — and for Trump, who continues to wield enormous influence despite no longer holding executive authority. Many analysts now describe it as the first real test of whether Trump’s second-term foreign-policy instincts can survive contact with reality when he no longer controls the levers of executive power.

What began as a seemingly narrow dispute over potatoes has suddenly become a high-stakes test of leverage, resolve, and economic interdependence. For Trump, the episode is a painful reminder that his policy preferences still command headlines — but his ability to force compliance has been dramatically curtailed since losing executive authority.

As emergency consultations begin this week, the world is watching to see whether North America’s most important economic relationship can be repaired — or whether a single commodity becomes the spark for a much larger continental fracture.