US President Donald Trump signed a wave of new orders Tuesday that push the trade war with Canada well beyond tariffs. The measures include an outright ban on a range of Canadian alcoholic drinks, certain dairy goods and big-engine motorcycles, taking effect September 29.
Read: Canada’s Retaliatory Tariffs Take Effect, and Bigger Threats Loom
Specific items include beer packaged in cans or bottles, rye whisky, several wine categories, whey protein concentrates, molasses, and motorcycles or mopeds over 800cc. The same orders widen the 50% tariff’s reach into dozens of new categories — cheese, hides, motorboats, various paper goods, aluminum products, furniture and lighting fixtures are now included too.
Eight products were removed from the tariff list altogether, including cement, road salt, toilet paper, bed sheets and fishing rods. A senior administration official said the adjustments reflected “feedback from businesses,” without elaborating further. US lobster was originally on the list of goods facing Canadian retaliatory tariffs, but Ottawa pulled it, concerned the move would land too hard on Canadian businesses.
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Read: Canada’s Tariffs Threaten a Repeat of America’s Covid-Era Toilet Paper Panic
University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe offered preliminary estimates on the scale of the changes on X — about $1.7 billion in trade freed from tariffs against roughly $1.8 billion newly subject to them, which he called “a wash.” The import bans cover a smaller slice, an estimated $1 billion in trade, though Tombe noted many of the banned categories aren’t things Canada actually exports to the US in meaningful volume.
Trump paired the tariff actions with a threat to cut Canadian companies out of US government contracts, a market he estimated at more than $50 billion a year, unless Canada offers “full and fair reciprocity for American Farmers and Companies.”
Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Ottawa is “assessing the latest measures,” adding that Canada’s focus for now is on building its own economic strength rather than escalating further.
