In 1961, John F. Kennedy chose Canada for his first trip abroad as president and brought with him a message of kinship. “What unites us is far greater than what divides us,” he told the Canadian Parliament. “This is a partnership, not an empire.”
Now, thanks to Donald Trump, a full-fledged trade war has broken out between the U.S. and Canada following the collapse of trade talks last month. And the president is settling on import bans as his newest trade war weapon. That should unnerve not just Canadian leaders but European officials and Americans worn out by higher prices too.
When the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s sweeping tariffs in February, it said the White House did have authority to enact import restrictions and outright bans.
On Tuesday, the White House announced it was instituting an import ban on certain Canadian dairy, liquor, and motorcycles which will take effect at the end of September. The announcement came one day after President Donald Trump threatened to bar Bombardier, a Canadian jet manufacturer, from selling its equipment in the U.S.
“If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a ‘piggybank,’” he said in a Truth Social post. It was a familiar outburst from Trump, who hasn’t spared chief executives, economists, and foreign governments from social media tirades throughout his second term.
Import bans are harder to undo since courts have recognized them as falling under executive authority. When the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s sweeping tariffs in February, it said the White House did have authority to enact import restrictions and outright bans. “I can destroy the trade. I’m even allowed to impose a foreign country destroying embargo,” Trump said in February. “I can do anything I want, but I can’t charge $1.” To carry out the ban on certain imports, the Trump administration cited Section 338, a little-known portion of the 1930 Trade Act. That law allows for tariffs of up to 50% on imports from nations that the president deems have “discriminated” against US businesses, and specifically sets aside the power to block imports entirely. The Trump administration has already implemented targeted import bans against Chinese companies alleged to use forced labor.
So far, the import bans affect just under $1 billion of Canadian imports, according to the Geoeconomics Center at the Atlantic Council. That’s a tiny fraction of the $382 billion of Canadian products that the US imported in 2025. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has little political incentive to cave on the “dollar for dollar” tariffs his government enacted on $20 billion worth of US imports, including steel, aluminum, furniture and more. Polls show Canadians approve of Carney in his standoff against Washington, though Canada’s ability to manage a trade war against its largest export market will test their resolve.
American businesses will grapple with a fresh round of supply-chain headaches due to the wildly fluctuating tariff environment.
However, Trump could easily up the ante and widen the bans. His administration is convinced they’re holding all the cards.
“Canada very much wants to make a deal. They’re dying to make a deal,” Trump said in his Wednesday evening speech at the Republican midterm convention. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has dismissively compared Canada to a “little yippy dog” that antagonized a German shepherd at a playground.
Some legal experts observe that the Trump administration could be planting the seeds for another defeat in court. Section 338 has never been litigated in its 96-year history. In addition, combining tariffs and categorical import bans “may help strengthen the legal case against Trump’s actions, by underscoring the vast scope of the authority he is claiming,” George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin wrote in Reason Magazine.
For Americans worried about their wallets, the imbroglio with Canada won’t lead to broad-based price increases as Trump’s sweeping tariffs did last year. But American businesses will grapple with a fresh round of supply-chain headaches due to the wildly fluctuating tariff environment. Certain pockets of US industry, such as automakers, will experience the brunt of the fallout. Building a home in the US could become a more costly endeavor since construction materials also flow from Canada too.
A state of separation and suspicion is in the middle of replacing the close bond between the U.S. and Canada that Kennedy once talked about. What’s left to determine is how deep the scars go and if they’ll ever heal.
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