TORONTO — President Donald Trump answered Ottawa’s overnight counter-tariffs Tuesday night with something sharper than another duty: an outright ban on U.S. imports of Canadian beer, wine, spirits, whey, molasses and motorcycles.The White House published five proclamations under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 after Canada’s 15%, 25% and 50% surtaxes on about $27.6 billion in U.S. goods took effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT. Trump called the move a response to “Canada’s increased discrimination against U.S. commerce.” The bans start Sept. 29, while changes to the existing 50% tariff list start Sept. 15.Banned products include malt beer, a long list of wines and spirits, non-alcoholic beer, whey protein, cane molasses and larger motorcycles and mopeds. Cheeses, motorboats, paper, some furniture and mattresses, hides, and certain aluminum and iron products move onto the 50% tariff list. Rock salt, cement and some hospital goods come off it. The duties apply whether or not a shipment qualifies under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and they stack on top of existing Section 232 metals tariffs.Trump also directed the General Services Administration to pull about $50 billion in Canadian-origin goods off U.S. government procurement schedules until Ottawa restores what Washington calls “full and fair reciprocity.” A senior administration official told reporters the bans were chosen over more tariffs because several Canadian provinces had already pulled American liquor off government-store shelves..Trump orders US administration group to drop Canadian goods as trade war escalates.The list of banned products is small next to total two-way trade. Capital Economics put it at about 0.25% of Canada’s exports to the United States. Alcohol shipments to the U.S. were worth US$687 million in 2025, dairy US$269 million and motorcycles US$90 million, according to UN trade data cited by the BBC. The larger risk for Ontario is what comes next. Trump’s threat to raise tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, parts and steel to 50% on January 1, 2027 remains in force.Premier Doug Ford has already given Prime Minister Mark Carney “full support” for walking away from a deal that left mid- and heavy-duty trucks off promised relief, and he has said electricity and high-grade nickel shipped south are “on the table.” University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe has put the earlier U.S. tariff round at almost 90,000 jobs at risk nationwide, including about 36,000 in Ontario. Factory payrolls here were 827,700 last month — up 1.4% year over year — but those jobs were booked before Tuesday’s duties and before the 2027 auto threat..Unifor president Lana Payne told CTV News she backs Ottawa’s retaliation and that Canada had “done everything possible” to settle the file. Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Candace Laing said Washington is “punishing Canada by punishing themselves.” Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc called the new U.S. measures “unjustified” and said Ottawa is assessing them. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada will “pivot and prosper,” and that standing still would cost more than acting.
