A truck crosses the Gordie Howe International Bridge from Canada to the United States, connecting Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, on September 6, 2026.
Jeff Kowalski | AFP | Getty Images
The White House on Tuesday banned imports of some Canadian automobiles, dairy products and alcohol products as officials gave mixed signals about the prospects for a trade deal.
The long list of affected products includes motorcycles and mopeds with petrol engines larger than 800cc, whey products and molasses, and a number of alcoholic beverages primarily packaged for direct consumption, from beer and cider to wine, whiskey and vodka.
According to the American Action Forum, these products are estimated to have a total import value of approximately $19.9 billion from Canada.
The import ban announced by the Trump administration earlier this month is the latest in a war of words and retaliatory tariffs between the United States and Canada.
President Donald Trump said Monday that he expects a “fair deal” with Canada in the coming weeks, but remained bellicose.
“They’re using us and they feel entitled… We don’t need anything they have,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“I think within the next three to four weeks they’re going to come to us and say, ‘We’re going to eliminate all tariffs.’ We’re going to win them all,” Trump said.
But officials have suggested there is little progress toward a deal.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC on Friday that there is “no urgency on our side” to reach a deal, noting that the U.S. still has “a lot of other trade” with Canada.
“We still get the things that we need from both countries, like oil, gas, potash, etc. So there’s still a lot of active trade between the two countries,” Greer said.
“I’m not waiting on the phone.”
Canada’s Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said at a press conference on Friday that the United States has “imposed illegal and unjustified tariffs on sectors of our economy, creating tremendous hardship for businesses and workers across the country.”
LeBlanc said the two countries are “talking about trying to find alternatives to the current situation” but “we have no intention of signing an agreement that is disadvantageous to Canada.”
“We have said that if we believe there is an agreement that is in the interests of Canadian sovereignty and the Canadian economy, we will sign it, but we are not waiting on the phone,” LeBlanc said.
Ottawa has not been able to reveal any new retaliatory measures since counter-tariffs went into effect on Sept. 8.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has spent the past month calling for closer ties with the European Union as well as a standoff with the United States, and suggested in a recent speech that the White House was “weaponizing” economic policy as a form of “coercion” against other countries.
Canada imposed tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on a number of U.S. products worth C$27.6 billion ($19.45 billion), including steel, dairy products, agricultural machinery, paper, household appliances, furniture, clothing and electronics.
The company said these are “dollar-for-dollar” responses to the 50% tariffs imposed by the U.S. government in August on products including cement, wine and hockey sticks.
The measure targets a relatively small portion of the $715.5 billion in annual merchandise trade between the two countries, but if the conflict continues to escalate or is prolonged, it is expected to have a major impact on sectors such as metals and automobiles, hurting small and medium-sized businesses on both sides of the border.
The Bank of Canada warned this month that the new tariffs made the country’s growth outlook more uncertain and increased upside risks to inflation.
Correction: Since counter-tariffs went into effect on September 8, Ottawa has stopped short of revealing any new retaliation. The schedule was incorrectly listed in the previous version.
