US bans Canadian alcohol, dairy, motorcycles in tit-for-tat trade war

2 min readUpdated: Sep 9, 2026 09:47 AM IST

The United States banned imports of Canadian alcoholic beverages, motorcycles, and dairy products on Tuesday, escalating the trade war between the two neighbouring nations.

The bans came after Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods, and will go into effect from September 29.

The Canadian levies followed 50% US tariffs charged on some $20 billion of Canadian goods last month, after multiple rounds of negotiations collapsed.

The breakdown has widened a crack in the bilateral ties between the longtime allies, who have blamed each other for the same. This has prompted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to shift away from Canada’s biggest partner in trade, and cast a shadow on the viability of the US-Mexico-Canada agreement.

“We have everything we need to pivot and prosper,” Carney said on Tuesday.”That pivot will come at a cost. There’s always a cost to action. But it doesn’t come close to the cost of standing still,” he added while speaking in a ⁠video posted ​on YouTube.

What all has been banned by the US from the Canadian imports?

The bans appeared to cover most of the alcohol products, including beer and various types of wine, whisky, bourbon, rum, vodka, vermouth, tequila, mezcal, and brandy.

The dairy ban includes whey protein, invert molasses, cane molasses and non-alcoholic beer, according to the White House’s website.

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In addition this, various cheese products were added to a list that had products subject to a 50% tariff. Some paper, aluminium, wood, furniture, lighting and other products were also listed there.

According to a US official, President Donald Trump’s threat to increase tariffs on Canadian autos from 25% to ⁠50% on January 1 also remained in effect.

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