The US began blocking imports of dozens of types of Canadian goods on Tuesday as President Trump’s latest trade measures against Ottawa took effect.
The restrictions kicked in at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time and hit a wide range of packaged booze, along with whey, molasses, non-alcoholic beer and one narrow class of big-engine motorcycles.
The White House rolled out the three measures under broad headings covering alcohol, dairy and motor vehicles.
But the actual bans are much narrower than those labels might suggest.
Together, the three measures cover 68 tariff classifications — 53 involving alcoholic beverages, 14 under the dairy-related action and just one for motorcycles.
Canadian cheese, for example, isn’t banned even though the dairy dispute grew out of Canada’s treatment of US cheese tariff-rate quotas.
Instead, that action blocks certain Canadian whey products, several kinds of molasses and non-alcoholic beer.
The motor-vehicle ban is similarly narrow. It doesn’t block Canadian passenger cars.
It covers just one tariff classification: motorcycles, mopeds and similar cycles with internal-combustion engines larger than 800cc.
Alcohol makes up the vast majority of the banned tariff lines.
The list includes beer, wine and cider, as well as whisky, rum, gin, vodka, brandy, liqueurs and other spirits.
Even then, not every Canadian alcoholic beverage is banned.
Many of the restrictions apply only to products the government calls “Packaged” — booze sold in bottles, cans, boxes, kegs or similar containers for direct consumption. Other entries depend on factors such as container size, alcohol content or customs value.
That means whether a shipment gets blocked can come down to its exact tariff classification, packaging, size, alcohol content or value.
The bans are the latest escalation in a trade fight that had already saddled some Canadian goods with 50% tariffs.
Trump first imposed those tariffs in three proclamations issued in July. They took effect Aug. 22 after a three-day suspension expired.
The White House went a step further on Sept. 8, shifting some of those goods from steep tariffs to an outright import ban.
The administration relied on Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which allows the president, under certain conditions, to raise tariffs or block imports if the US finds that another country is discriminating against American trade.
The White House says Canada kept up or increased the trade practices it deemed discriminatory after the tariffs were imposed.
Canadian officials have pushed back on the US measures, calling the tariffs unjustified.
Canada has hit back with tariffs of its own, imposing levies of 15% to 50% on $19.5 billion worth of US goods, including steel, dairy products, farm equipment, appliances, furniture, clothing and electronics.
Ottawa has called the measures a “dollar for dollar” response to US tariffs on Canadian goods.
