The United States is banning dairy products, most alcoholic beverages, and motorcycles from Canada, the White House said Tuesday, as the trade war between the two neighbors and longtime allies escalates. The ban will take effect in three weeks and comes after Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion in US imports earlier Tuesday, the AP reports. The White House listed the products in five executive orders Tuesday evening, reports the CBC. The administration also added numerous products, including mattresses, lamps, motorboats, and golf carts, to the list of products that will face a 50% tariff rate starting Sept. 15.
President Trump also moved Tuesday to shut Canadian products out of large, long-term US government contracts as Canada's retaliatory tariffs took effect and Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to speed efforts to reduce the country's dependence on the United States, the AP reports. Trump directed the US General Services Administration to declare Canadian products ineligible for those contracts until Canada allows "full and fair reciprocity" for American products. Carney said Tuesday Canada's strategy was about becoming more independent. "It's about ensuring that no country can hold us hostage. And that we can live how we want to live."
- Carney acknowledged the trade actions would cause short-term pain but said they would push Canada to move faster on investment, infrastructure, and trade diversification. "It was easy business, but it meant we relied too much on one economic partner," he said. "That time is over."
- Under Trump, US-Canada relations have deteriorated rapidly. In addition to imposing tariffs on Canadian products, Trump has repeatedly made inflammatory comments about making Canada the 51st US state. Carney came to power in a come-from-behind political victory last year by promising to stand up to him.
The rupture has upended one of the world's closest relationships. On Aug. 22, the US imposed 50% tariffs on about 5% of Canadian imports, charging that Canada had unfairly treated the American dairy, alcoholic beverage, and auto industries. Some Canadian provinces have banned the sale of American booze—a move that prompted the retaliatory US ban on Tuesday. An administration official tells the CBC that the bans are intended to deter other countries from retaliating against US tariffs. With the bans, the official says, the US "purposely selected items where Canada has pretty low import penetration in the United States, or the United States has substantial domestic production or gets it from other places."
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