OTTAWA, Canada: Canadian businesses are bracing for new 50 percent U.S. tariffs set to take effect on August 19 as negotiators from the two countries remain far apart on a trade deal and concerns grow over potential job losses in affected industries.

U.S. President Donald Trump last month invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose duties on Canadian imports, including wine, furniture, dairy products, cement, clothing, fishing rods, hockey equipment, and other goods.

The provision allows the U.S. president to impose punitive tariffs of up to 50 percent against trading partners deemed to have discriminated against U.S. goods.

The tariffs would cover nearly US$20 billion of Canadian goods, or about 5.2 percent of the $383 billion in goods the United States imported from Canada in 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Unlike many of Trump's earlier tariffs, the duties would also apply to products qualifying for preferential treatment under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which has shielded much of Canadian trade from tariffs.

Canada's U.S. trade minister Dominic LeBlanc and chief trade negotiator Janice Charette have stepped up discussions with their U.S. counterparts ahead of the deadline. LeBlanc said Friday the countries remained far from reaching a draft trade deal, according to a source briefed on the matter. He and Charette remained in Washington over the weekend for further talks.

Trump last month declined to extend the USMCA for another 16 years, leaving the agreement subject to annual reviews.

Businesses have warned that some industries could face significant consequences from the new tariffs, including Canada's wood products and wine sectors.

"A 50 percent tariff is simply not something that manufacturers can absorb, nor can we reasonably expect our U.S. customers to absorb it. ... It could make certain Canadian-made products economically noncompetitive in the U.S. market virtually overnight," said Alain Ouzilleau, owner of Canadian custom kitchen cabinet brand Cabico Ltd.

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said small and medium-sized companies reliant on U.S. customers could be particularly vulnerable.

"If the tariffs come into effect ... they will cause massive dislocation for small businesses that rely on U.S. clients and American buyers that rely on Canadian suppliers," Kelly said.

University of Toronto economics professor Joseph Steinberg said the broader concern was whether another escalation would derail negotiations over the USMCA and how affected industries would fare.

"In the macroeconomic sense, the tariffs are actually not that big of a deal," Steinberg said.

LeBlanc has met U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer five times in four weeks, including virtually on August 16. Greer has pressed Canada over its dairy system and the removal of U.S. alcohol from stores in several provinces.

Ted McKinney, CEO of the U.S. National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, called dairy the most contentious agricultural issue.

"It is more than a sticking point," McKinney said. "It is probably the major issue."