U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday, Monday, that calls for the imposition of additional 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian products, citing “discriminatory treatment by Canada against U.S. products,” bilateral disputes in the automotive, dairy, and alcoholic beverages sectors.

The new tariffs, which will take effect in one month, will apply to a wide variety of goods, ranging from wine to hockey sticks and cement. Notably, they also apply to certain products imported into the U.S. under the country’s free trade agreements with Canada and Mexico.

However, certain sectors considered critical—such as energy, potash, fish, and rare earths, are explicitly exempt from the new additional tariffs.

Access for U.S. dairy products to the Canadian market has been a point of contention under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement, as Washington accuses Ottawa of failing to honor its commitments.

However, a ruling by the dispute settlement mechanism provided for in the agreement found in favor of the Canadian side in late 2023, which had deliberately restricted the tariff-free status of U.S. milk and dairy products—in other words, imposed a quota on the amount it imports duty-free.

The U.S. government has repeatedly initiated proceedings under the agreement, but the situation has not changed.

Compounding this dispute is the boycott of American alcoholic beverages by nearly all Canadian provinces.

“Unlike other partners and allies, Canada continues to impose retaliatory measures against the U.S. for its efforts to rebalance trade,” argued Jamison Greer, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), in a press release issued by his office on Friday.

“Canada is removing U.S. alcoholic beverages from store shelves, is providing greater access to European dairy products, and is imposing a cap on U.S. auto exports to Canada from companies that have relocated their headquarters back to the U.S.,” he continued, emphasizing that the executive order will allow “Canada to be held accountable.”

Ongoing trade disputes

In most provinces, public institutions handle the sale of alcoholic beverages. Many of these provinces decided to stop purchasing American products when Donald Trump imposed the first round of 25% tariffs on Canada, shortly after returning to the White House in 2025.

At the time, the Republican accused his country’s northern neighbor, as well as Mexico, of failing to effectively combat fentanyl trafficking and immigration into the U.S.

He had, however, ensured that the tariffs would not apply to products imported under the trilateral free trade agreement — which accounted for 80% of Canadian exports to the U.S., according to Ottawa’s figures.

However, those tariffs were rescinded in late February, by a ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court, along with all non-sector-specific tariffs imposed by the White House: the highest court in the U.S. ruled that the president had overstepped his authority.

Since then, Donald Trump has been seeking a way to reinstate the canceled tariffs and, as a first step, imposed a temporary 10% general tariff on all imports.

As these tariffs are set to expire on Friday, the U.S. presidency is expected to announce a new round of tariffs, while investigations into the trade practices of some 60 countries—including major U.S. trading partners—had already begun to justify their imposition.

Last Thursday, Brazil became the first target of the new U.S. tariffs, which amount to 25% and apply to specific categories of products exported to the U.S. market. They take effect tomorrow, Wednesday.

On Friday, Donald Trump issued a threat that he would impose new tariffs due to the smoke from hundreds of wildfires in Canada, which have dramatically worsened air quality in major cities in the northeastern U.S. He accused Ottawa of “willful negligence,” claiming that it does not know how to “properly manage” its forests.

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Source: CNA