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The US will ban imports of a range of Canadian products, including alcoholic spirits, some dairy goods and motorbikes, after its neighbour’s retaliatory tariffs on American goods came into force.<\/b><\/p>\n
In a series of executive orders on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said Canada was “discriminating” against the US and outlined the bans, which will begin on 29 September.<\/p>\n
Officials on both sides have said they would like to strike a trade deal, but no new talks have been scheduled since negotiations collapsed in late August.<\/p>\n
Dominic LeBlanc, Canada’s trade minister, said the latest US measures were “unjustified” and that he would work to protect the country’s workers, families and businesses.<\/p>\n
“Our core focus is on what we can control: building strength at home, diversifying our partnerships abroad, and building Canada strong for all Canadians,” LeBlanc said.<\/p>\n
He said he had contacted his US counterpart and promised to work “in good faith” to resolve tensions.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Tuesday, Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a video address that his country’s move away from the US as its largest trading partner “will come at a cost”.<\/p>\n
The White House’s new sanctions are the latest strike in a months-long trade war between the US and Canada. The two countries have historically been close allies, with each a key business partner to the other.<\/p>\n
Generally more than two-thirds of Canada’s total exports go to the US. In 2025, Canada’s exports of alcoholic spirits to the US were worth US$687m (\u00a3507m), dairy products were worth $269m and motorbikes were worth $90m, according to UN data compiled by Trading Economics.<\/p>\n
But Stephen Brown, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said the import ban covered just 0.25% of Canada’s exports to the US.<\/p>\n
He said: “Nonetheless, Trump’s willingness to impose an import ban is further evidence, if it were needed, that these latest measures are about inflicting economic pain rather than raising revenue.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n