The US is banning Canadian products, including alcohol, dairy and motor vehicles, as Canadian retaliatory tariffs on American goods come into force.
In a series of executive orders on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump wrote that Canada is “discriminating” against the commerce of the United States, and ordered the import ban, which will begin 29 September.
Earlier on Tuesday, Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a video address that his country’s pivot away from the US as its largest trading partner “will come at a cost”.
Both US and Canadian officials have said they would like to strike a deal, but no new talks have been scheduled since negotiations collapsed in late August.
The US is Canada’s largest trading partner - generally more than two-thirds of its total exports go to its neighbour.
The BBC has contacted the office of the Prime Minister of Canada for comment.
Last month, the White House had imposed 50% tariffs on around $20bn (£14.8bn) of Canadian goods after several rounds of talks had broken down.
Those tariffs hit sectors including Canada’s furniture and wine industries, as well as sporting and fishing equipment businesses.
Canada responded with dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs on US goods like steel, clothing and furniture. The counter-duties came into effect after midnight on Tuesday.
The import ban announced by Trump in response targets various alcoholic drinks and dairy products like whey, according to a series of White House statements signed by the president on Tuesday.
Canada is “discriminating” against US businesses by restricting the distribution of US goods while not doing the same to such products from other countries, the White House said.
Tension between the two countries have also expanded beyond tariffs.
In August, Trump ordered Lake Ontario to be renamed as Lake America, resulting in uproar from Canadians and some Americans.
Straight up market manipulation for his billionaire friends.
Along with the import bans and new tariffs, the U.S. has also quietly dropped tariffs on some products they hit with levies just a few weeks ago, said William Pellerin, international trade partner with McMillian LLP.
They include toilet paper, sugar, salt and cement, which is a big export for Canada, Pellerin said.
The removals suggest the United States probably realized they didn’t have enough supply of those products and couldn’t keep up with demand, he said.
“They quickly realized that they were probably shooting themselves in the foot.”
Lol.
What Canada needs to do is add export taxes for these items. Charge the buyers this extra tax. And do it on potash and oil too. Use the cash to help businesses weather the storm.
The bigger the size of the import, the larger the impact, the more diffcult to tarriff or block.
