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As the U.S. threatens to hit Canadian imports with a new 50 per cent tariff, the Trump administration says the move is taking aim at what it calls “retaliatory and discriminatory measures” Canada has against that country.
Trump signed three executive orders on Monday, the first targeting Canadian provincial and territorial boycotts on American alcohol products, the second aimed at Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles and auto parts and the third surrounding quotas on American dairy imports under Canada’s supply management system.
The word “discrimination” is used 11 times throughout the proclamation, with the White House fact sheet regarding the tariffs stating that Trump is “offsetting the burden and disadvantage on U.S. commerce from Canada’s discriminatory treatment of U.S. commerce and is leveling the playing field for crucial American exports—cars, alcohol, and dairy.”
“He keeps talking about how the world takes advantage of the U.S., so rather than presenting himself as the bully, he’s the defender.”
Below is a list of all the tariffs the U.S. and Canada have levied against one another.
U.S. tariffs on Canada:
- Global tariffs of 10 per cent imposed by the U.S on Feb. 24, 2026, from which CUSMA-compliant goods are exempt
- Sectoral tariffs imposed over the past year that vary by industry
- Between 10 to 50 per cent tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper products
- 25 per cent tariffs on auto imports
- 10 per cent tariff on softwood timber and lumber
- 25 per cent tariffs on certain upholstered wooden furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities
- 25 per cent tariffs on trucks and truck parts
- 10 per cent tariff on buses
- 25 per cent tariffs on certain semiconductors
Canadian tariffs on U.S.:
“The United States believes that it can exert commercial pressure on Canada to get outcomes in the realm, for instance, of security, border security, or continental security, more generally,” professor of Canadian history D.C. Bélanger at the University of Ottawa said.
“That’s an underlying issue, and these were things that Trump brought up when he was first elected in 2024, first elected for a second term.”
Currently, the only Canadian provinces allowing the sale of U.S. booze are Alberta and Saskatchewan, with many making the decision to pull American booze coming from last year’s trade war and tariffs launched against Canada by the U.S., igniting the ‘Buy Canadian’ movement.
U.S. Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney proposed legislature on July 6 which she said would “hold Canada accountable” for “unfair” provincial limits on importing American alcohol.
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“Nearly all of Canada’s provincial liquor boards have prohibited or restricted the importation and distribution of American alcoholic beverages, harming U.S. producers and limiting their access to an important export market,” a press release reads.
In response to that, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, “we won’t back down.”
“U.S. tariffs are threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Canadian workers, including here in Ontario,” Ford posted on X on July 7. “We won’t back down. The fastest and only way to get U.S. alcohol back on Ontario shelves is for the U.S. to drop its illegal tariffs on Canada.”
In response to Monday’s tariff announcement, Ford doubled down on his stance that American booze will remain off Ontario’s shelves.
“We have to negotiate through strength, not weakness,” Ford said on Tuesday. “We need to throw everything on the table.”
In addition, B.C. Premier David Eby posted on X on Tuesday that “there is not a chance in hell that U.S. alcohol is going back on the shelf in B.C.”
Carney said Tuesday morning to reporters that the decision to withdraw U.S. alcohol from the shelves was one taken by the provinces and not the federal government.
“The provinces individually took those decisions in response to a series of tariffs that were put in place and also threats to our sovereignty. Those measures have been supported by provincial citizens. They’re supported and it’s indicative in terms of other consumption habits,” Carney said.
The fact provinces made those decisions to boycott American booze has given Trump an angle to attack the move as a federal government decision, Lander said.
“If we had left the alcohol on the shelves and just Canadians as part of the elbow-up strategy … there’s nothing that Trump could do,” he added.
However, refusing the sale of certain goods is more impactful than a social boycott, according to Joshi.
“When you refuse to carry something, it’s much stronger than a tariff because with tariffs, you can sell it, but we’re going to impose a 25 per cent tariff so the price goes up,” Joshi said.
“But when you refuse to sell it there is no sale, so that’s a bigger hit.”
Trump has previously blasted Canada as “unfair” and “ripping us off” with massive dairy tariffs in the past, with Joshi citing this area as “a big sticking point for the U.S. government.”
“It has been government after government having made mention of the fact that Canada protects its dairy industry, and that is a fact,” she said.
Canada’s supply management system sets production levels and prices for goods such as milk and eggs, and only a specific amount of foreign products in those industries are allowed into the supply-managed system.
Those levels for foreign goods are called quotas, and imports that go beyond that allowed amount face significantly higher tariffs than the allowed amount.
Bélanger also added that the U.S. dairy industry “basically subsidizes the production of cheese, milk and butter,” and that the industry is searching for places to export the volumes it produces.
“When you’re in a situation of overproduction, one of the ways to deal with that is to attempt to sell your products overseas,” he said.
“America’s dairy industry is convinced that they have Canada as a potential outlet for this severe overproduction of dairy products. They’ve long wanted to force Canada to purchase this subsidized cheese, milk and butter.”
Carney said that Canada is “looking at all options” on how to respond to the U.S. tariffs and has spoken with Trump regarding the latest tariff threat.
Putting American booze back on Canadian shelves could be one of the biggest band-aids in fixing Canada-U.S. trade relations, according to Joshi — but whether consumers buy it would be a different question all together.
However, it may be too little too late to go back to business as usual.
“We’re going to have to accept that the free trade that we once took for granted is over and we need to find a new normal that allows us to export to the United States.”
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