President Donald Trump is escalating his trade confrontation with Canada, ordering new import bans on certain Canadian dairy products, most alcoholic beverages and motorcycles after Ottawa imposed retaliatory tariffs on billions of dollars in American goods.
The restrictions will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on Sept. 29, according to proclamations signed by Trump on Tuesday. The administration is also modifying its existing 50% tariffs on other Canadian products beginning Sept. 15. Fox Business first reported the latest escalation.
The White House said Trump signed five proclamations under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which allows a president to restrict imports when another country maintains or increases allegedly discriminatory treatment of American commerce.
“President Trump is taking decisive and appropriate action to respond to Canada’s additional retaliation and continued discriminatory treatment of crucial American exports,” the administration said in a White House fact sheet.
Two Different Deadlines
The latest measures consist of both outright import bans and changes to the list of products subject to 50% tariffs.
Beginning Sept. 29, the United States will block covered Canadian alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles from entering the country. Canadian goods imported before that deadline but not yet released for consumption will generally remain subject to the existing 50% tariff.
A separate set of changes taking effect Sept. 15 will remove some products, including rock salt and cement, from the 50% tariff lists while adding other goods such as all-terrain vehicles and additional dairy products.
The restrictions apply to covered products even if they would ordinarily qualify for preferential treatment under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. They may also be imposed on top of certain national-security tariffs authorized under Section 232, according to the White House.
Trump separately directed the U.S. trade representative and the General Services Administration to remove Canadian-origin products from the agency’s Multiple Award Schedules, which the administration said oversee more than $50 billion in federal purchasing.
The president indicated that Canadian products would remain ineligible for those long-term federal contracts until Ottawa provides what the administration considers “full and fair reciprocity” for American exports.
White House Points To Dairy, Alcohol And Vehicles
The administration argues that Canada has disadvantaged American businesses in three major sectors.
On dairy, Trump’s proclamation specifically accused Canada of administering tariff-rate quotas for American cheese more restrictively than quotas covering comparable European products. The White House said Ottawa failed to change those policies after negotiations broke down in August. The dairy proclamation moves some affected products from a 50% tariff to a complete import ban.
The administration also objects to Canadian provincial restrictions on American alcohol. Most provinces and territories previously halted the purchase, distribution or retail sale of U.S. alcoholic beverages without imposing comparable restrictions on products from other countries, according to the White House.
Trump’s alcohol proclamation pointed to Saskatchewan’s decision to impose an additional 50% levy on U.S. alcohol beginning Sept. 8 as evidence that Canadian restrictions had increased.
A third proclamation cited Canada’s motor-vehicle tariff system, which the administration says places American automakers and auto-parts exporters at a disadvantage. That order will prohibit imports of covered Canadian motorcycles beginning Sept. 29.
Canada’s Retaliatory Tariffs Take Effect
Trump announced the bans hours after Canada imposed tariffs of 15%, 25% and 50% on approximately C$27.6 billion—or roughly $20 billion—of American goods.
The Canadian duties cover products including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, electronics, pulp and paper. Ottawa said it designed the countermeasures to match U.S. tariffs “dollar for dollar.” Canada’s Department of Finance said the tariffs apply only to goods originating in the United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney defended the retaliation and said his government would work to reduce the country’s economic dependence on the United States.
“It’s about ensuring that no country can hold us hostage. And that we can live how we want to live,” Carney said Tuesday, according to Fox Business.
American Distillers Call For A Deal
Alcohol producers have been particularly exposed to the worsening dispute. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States said American spirits exports to Canada fell more than 70% year over year after provincial restrictions began in March 2025.
“For more than a year and a half, American distillers have shouldered the brunt of this trade dispute,” council President and CEO Chris Swonger told Fox Business.
“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,” Swonger added.
The group had issued a similar warning after Trump imposed the earlier 50% tariff, saying further escalation could invite additional retaliation and hurt American hospitality businesses. The council has urged both countries to negotiate restored market access.
Neither Washington nor Ottawa has announced when formal negotiations will resume.
