US bans imports of Canadian goods: ban on alcohol, dairy and motorcycles takes effect

The United States on Tuesday banned imports of nearly one billion dollars’ worth of Canadian goods — alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles — after the new order took effect at 00:01 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on Tuesday, as the Associated Press reports.

According to calculations by Jacob Jensen, director of trade policy at the right-leaning think tank American Action Forum, the ban covers about $967 million in Canadian imports (based on 2025 data). About 87% of the total is alcoholic beverages, targeted because several Canadian provinces removed American drinks from store shelves. Also on the banned list are some dairy products, including the milk byproduct known as whey, as well as motorcycles. Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) confirmed that its three-wheeled Can-Am Spyder and Canyon motorcycles “will be excluded from import into the U.S.”, with the effects to be felt next year.

The measures are based on two proclamations signed by President Donald Trump on September 8, under Section 338 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1930. This summer, Trump imposed 50% tariffs on about $20 billion in Canadian imports, accusing Canada of discriminating against American dairy, automobile and alcoholic-beverage producers; Canada immediately responded with 15%, 25% or 50% tariffs, as CNN writes.

On Monday, from the Oval Office, Trump told reporters he expects Canada to come to the negotiating table within weeks: “They will come and say: ‘Sir, we are sorry,'” adding that “I think the deal will be reached, but it will be fair.” Meanwhile trade lawyer Patrick Childress of the firm Holland & Knight, a former U.S. trade official, says the ban “certainly will not help at all the trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada”; the 50% tariffs were already a de facto ban, and the deadlock could last months, not weeks.

Canada’s response came via Gabriel Brunet, spokesperson for Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc: “We are taking into account the entry into force of trade measures previously announced by the administration… Our first priority remains protecting and supporting Canadian workers, farmers, families and businesses from these unjustified actions… by building strength at home and diversifying partnerships abroad.” Prime Minister Mark Carney wants to double Canada’s trade outside the U.S. over the next decade, saying: “There is now a price to be paid for access to the American market,” according to USA Today.

In the background, the ban puts at risk the renewal of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA); the two countries exchange about $880 billion in goods per year.