The collapse of trade negotiations between the United States and Canada has turned the protection of French language and culture into a central dispute. Prime Minister Mark Carney said the proposed agreement contained "threats to French language and culture" and that Canada "could not accept" any deal weakening bilingual labeling rules or support for Francophone content. He added, "We will not give them what they have asked." The position has broad support in Quebec, where nearly 85 percent of residents are Francophone: an Angus Reid Institute poll published Sunday found that 85 percent of Quebecers backed ending the negotiations, the highest approval rate among Canada’s ten provinces. Since talks stalled Friday, the US has imposed 50 percent tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods. Carney has pledged dollar-for-dollar retaliation beginning September 8. The dispute includes federal requirements for English-French product labels and streaming investment in Canadian, Indigenous and French Canadian programming, as well as Quebec’s stricter Bill 96 language rules and Bill 109 requirement that streaming platforms prioritize French-language content. The Office of the US Trade Representative listed Bill 96 among its 2025 global trade barriers and identified Bill 109 as a potential barrier in March. Political analysts say concessions would be especially risky ahead of Quebec’s election, as the separatist Parti Québécois gains support and concerns grow that changes to language protections could stoke secessionist sentiment.