WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday signed orders banning the import of Canadian alcohol, dairy and motorcycles — retaliating hours after Ottawa imposed a 50% tariff on American clothing, cheese, metals and wood.
The dramatic announcement follows Canadian provincial bans on US-made alcohol during an initial round of trade tensions last year, an administration official told reporters.
“Canada set this precedent of banning things,” the official said, adding that the alcohol import ban and other restrictions will take effect in about three weeks.
“They set this precedent, and so we used the Section 338 authority, which allows the president to use tariffs in response to discriminatory action,” the official said.
“It’s really just Canada and China who thought, ‘I’m not going to do tariffs. I’m going to start banning stuff.’”
Most Canadian provinces — including Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia — boycott or ban US-made alcohol products.
“For more than a year and a half, American distillers have shouldered the brunt of this trade dispute,” said Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
“Canadian provinces’ removal of U.S. spirits from store shelves caused U.S. spirits exports to Canada to fall by more than 70%. We urge leaders on both sides of the border to reach a negotiated solution that restores U.S. spirits to retail shelves throughout Canada and returns the spirits sector to a permanent zero-for-zero tariff framework.”
Canada exported about $1 billion annually in alcohol to the US — including the whisky used in Fireball — in 2024-2025, according to Statistics Canada, plus about $250 million in dairy products.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from trade talks on Aug. 21, resulting in a dramatic tit-for-tat escalation.
Trump initially imposed a new 50% tariff on $20 billion of Canadian goods, including beer, cheese, wine, hockey sticks, cement and electronics.
Carney’s retaliation on Tuesday aimed to apply the same levy to $20 billion of US imports.
Trump also has threatened to hike tariffs to 50% on all vehicles and automotive parts effective Jan. 1, in addition to the same rate on steel coming from Canada.
