A new House of Commons petition is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney's government to reinstate the $3.7 billion digital services tax it scrapped last year in a bid to advance trade negotiations with the United States.Blacklock's Reporter says Petition E-7664 argues the concession failed to produce lasting results as U.S. tariffs against Canadian goods have continued and expanded."The Digital Services Tax Act was repealed in July 2025 with the aim of advancing trade negotiations with the United States," said the petition. "This tax concession has yielded no lasting benefit as U.S. tariffs against Canada continue to be imposed, renewed and expanded following the repeal."Bloc Québécois MP Gabriel Ste-Marie, vice-chair of the Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group, sponsored the petition without comment.Petitioners want cabinet to "immediately reinstate the digital services tax in the form adopted in 2024 and publish a report on tax revenue foregone by the federal treasury since repeal."They also accused the government of setting a precedent that weakened Parliament's authority over taxation."Repeal set a dangerous precedent by directly undermining a Canadian tax law duly passed by the House of Commons," said the petition."That law was repealed in exchange for non-binding trade assurances from a foreign government, thereby threatening our entire tax system."The Digital Services Tax Act imposed a 3% annual levy on large multinational technology companies. The first payments were scheduled for June 30, 2025.Cabinet announced at 10:38 p.m. Eastern on June 29 that it would not collect the tax.Carney defended the decision at the time as part of broader negotiations with Washington."It doesn't make sense to collect tax from people and then remit them back," Carney told reporters. "So it provides some certainty.".Asked whether Canada had received anything in exchange, Carney replied: "It is part of a bigger negotiation. It is something we expected."The United States had strongly opposed Canada's digital services tax, arguing it disproportionately targeted American technology companies."Only America should be allowed to tax American firms," said a 2025 White House Fact Sheet issued as U.S. President Donald Trump announced new tariffs."Trading partners hand American companies a bill for something called a digital services tax. Canada and France use these taxes to collect over $500 million per year from American companies."The U.S. Congressional Research Service had also warned the Canadian tax could become a trade irritant."A tax policy that raises prices for Canadian consumers and imposes costs on U.S. firms may pose a barrier to the export of U.S. digital services to Canada," it said in its 2025 report, Canada's Digital Services Tax Act.Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc denied during an Oct. 2 appearance before the Commons trade committee that dropping the tax amounted to a concession to Washington."I think it is part of an active negotiating conversation," said LeBlanc.Conservative MP Adam Chambers pressed the minister to identify what Canada received from Washington in return."Can you point to one concession that Americans have given to us?" asked Chambers."I understand you refer to these as concessions," replied LeBlanc."No one has called them anything but concessions," said Chambers."I wouldn't be as absolute as that," replied LeBlanc. "I don't think I've called them concessions. I've called them decisions we make in the best interest of continuing a discussion with the United States that will hopefully get to the agreement."
