US President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order to drastically reduce two national monuments in Utah, paving the way for oil drilling and mining.
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The United States is imposing additional tariffs of 50% on many Canadian goods because of alleged discrimination against several American products and industries, senior Trump administration officials said Monday.
President Donald Trump signed three proclamations on Monday targeting different categories of Canadian imports with increased prices in response to different areas – cars, alcohol and milk – where the US says it has been treated unfairly, officials said on the phone with reporters.
The bill, which is under Section 338 of the Tax Act of 1930, is said to go into effect 30 days after it is signed, according to officials.
Each announcement slaps tariffs on a variety of Canadian products, “from wine to hockey sticks to cement,” the official said on the phone.
The new tariffs “apply to all covered goods,” regardless of whether they are covered under the existing free trade agreement between the US and Canada, the official said.
“Canada must take responsibility for this ongoing discrimination,” said the official.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on X later Monday afternoon that Canada “must answer the tariffs, dollar for dollar” if the new US jobs go ahead.
The Canadian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the new US trade actions.
Canada’s status as a longtime close US ally and trading partner has eroded amid Trump’s aggressive spending agenda and growing distaste for the trilateral trade deal that includes Mexico, among other tensions.
The US and Canada were embroiled in an escalating trade war last year, as Trump slapped heavy tariffs on Canadian goods and Ottawa retaliated.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it would not renew that trade agreement, known as the USMCA, opting to cast doubt on the deal’s future by starting a series of annual reviews.
Last week, Trump intervened in Canada because of the wildfires that were burning in northwestern Ontario, which led to serious air pollution problems in large parts of the US state.
Claiming the issue has cost the US billions of dollars, Trump wrote on Truth Social that those costs “should be added to the TARIFFS Canada is currently paying.”
One of the top officials on Monday indicated that the recently announced 50% tariffs on Canadian goods were not related to the wildfires – but added that Trump “asked for options on that.”
Section 338 gives the president the power to impose tariffs of up to 50% on the goods of countries found to discriminate against the US.
The vague tax-setting authority “has been underutilized for decades,” John Veroneau and Catherine Gibson of the law firm Covington and Burling LLP wrote in a 2016 article. They have not found a public record related to Section 338 since 1949.
