TORONTO -- The United States is banning dairy products, most alcoholic beverages and motorcycles from Canada, the White House said Tuesday, as the trade war between the two neighbors and longtime allies escalates.
The ban will take effect in three weeks and comes after Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion in U.S. imports earlier Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump also moved Tuesday to shut Canadian products out of large, long-term U.S. government contracts as Canada's retaliatory tariffs took effect and Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to speed efforts to reduce the country's dependence on the United States.
Trump directed the U.S. General Services Administration to declare Canadian products ineligible for those contracts until Canada allows "full and fair reciprocity" for American products.
Carney said Tuesday Canada's strategy was about becoming more independent. "It's about ensuring that no country can hold us hostage. And that we can live how we want to live."
The rupture has upended one of the world's closest relationships. On Aug. 22, the U.S. imposed 50% tariffs on about 5% of Canadian imports, charging that Canada had unfairly treated the American dairy, alcoholic beverage and auto industries.
The U.S. and Canada have long sparred over trade, particularly Canada's protected dairy market and its subsidies for producers of softwood lumber. But they remained friends and staunch allies.
Under Trump, U.S.-Canada relations have deteriorated rapidly. In addition to imposing tariffs on Canadian products, Trump has repeatedly made inflammatory comments about making Canada the 51st U.S. state. Carney came to power in a come-from-behind political victory last year by promising to stand up to him.
Some Canadian provinces have banned the sale of U.S. alcoholic products, a move that prompted the retaliatory U.S. ban on Tuesday.
Canada is exploring ties with the European Union that could stop just short of membership, a Canadian official familiar with the discussions said.
Options could include expanding existing agreements, negotiating a new treaty or creating other forms of cooperation. The official said Canada is already consulting provinces, territories and labor groups about what a deeper relationship with the EU could look like, but no model has been chosen.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks publicly.
Carney is due in Strasbourg, France, next week, where he will attend European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's State of the European Union address Sept. 16 and address the European Parliament the following day.
Carney acknowledged the trade actions would cause short-term pain but said they would push Canada to move faster on investment, infrastructure and trade diversification.
"It was easy business, but it meant we relied too much on one economic partner," he said. "That time is over."
More than 70% of Canadian exports still go to the United States, underscoring the scale of Carney's push to diversify trade. He said Canada's exports to other countries are rising sharply and are on track to double over the next decade.
Carney defended the retaliation, saying Canada could not let American goods enter tariff-free while Canadian companies face U.S. tariffs.
Canada was not seeking to escalate the confrontation, he said, but the tariffs were necessary to protect Canadian workers.
The prime minister also defended Canada's decision to walk away from the talks, saying the U.S. sought limits on French-language and cultural protections, influence over future trade deals, and terms that would weaken the auto, steel and forestry sectors.
Earlier on Tuesday, a Canadian official said Ottawa did not intend to change course regardless of whether Trump responded with nothing or what the official called a "nuclear response."
The Canadian tariffs hit hundreds of American products, including steel, aluminum, cheese, appliances, clothing, cosmetics and farm equipment, at rates of 15%, 25% or 50%. They cover about $20 billion in American goods, roughly 6% of the $333.6 billion the United States exported to Canada last year.
Bombardier in Crosshairs
Since Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed Aug. 21, Trump and his administration have issued a series of threats and attacks portraying Canada as weak and dependent.
The latest trade threat came with Trump threatening to ban the sale of aircraft from Canada's Bombardier unless it manufactures planes in the United States.
The maker of private jets in response pointed out that major components for its planes, from wings to engines, are produced in the U.S. and that its supply chain that relies heavily on U.S. companies.
"NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren't good enough!" Trump said in a social media post Monday. "If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a 'piggybank.'"
Bombardier said in a statement that the American aerospace industry is a "clear winner on trade and exports." It said it creates tens of thousands of jobs both directly and through its supply chain.
Bombardier's supply chain includes about 2,800 U.S. companies in 47 states, it said. Among other things, wings for its business jets are made in Texas and flight control components are produced near Los Angeles. Honeywell, a major U.S. aerospace manufacturer, makes engines for Bombardier's Challenger jets in Phoenix, and Collins Aerospace makes avionics and communications equipment in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
"Bombardier values its great partnership with American companies and its U.S. employees. Our plan is to continue to invest in our people, our customers, and the communities in which we operate across the country," it said.
Bombardier has significant operations in Kansas, where Republicans have held a solid grip on both U.S. Senate seats for a century. Trump won the state by about 16 percentage points in 2024. Both Republican senators said they had contacted the White House to express concerns about the threat to the Canadian company and its potential impact on Kansas workers.
"I reached out to the Trump administration to make certain the President is aware of the significant contributions of Bombardier to Kansas and the importance of its presence in Wichita to many Kansas workers at Bombardier and in the Bombardier supply chain," Sen. Jerry Moran wrote in a social media post.
Moran promised to continue working to ensure that the planemaker's manufacturing operations remain in Kansas.
Sen. Roger Marshall voiced the same support in a social media post Tuesday, saying "I'm going to fight to keep Bombardier's over 1,200 Kansas jobs. I've already taken that concern inside the Oval Office."
Trump's trade war and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have fueled anger and rallied support for Carney. Canadians have sharply cut travel to the United States and boycotted U.S. goods.
Carney praised those efforts, saying "every time we choose to buy Canadian and travel in Canada, we are sending a message that nobody is in the stands, 40 million of us are on the ice."
British Columbia Premier David Eby said the province will install new signs at U.S. border crossings reading: "Welcome to British Columbia, Canada. Strong, proud and will NEVER be the 51st state. Sorry!"
"While our kindness is one of our greatest strengths, you should never, ever mistake that kindness for weakness," Eby said.
Information for this article was contributed by Rob Gillies and Paul Wiseman of The Associated Press.