President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will impose 50 percent tariffs on most Canadian goods effective in 30 days unless Canada drops what the administration called “discriminatory” trade barriers against U.S. products.
The move comes one day after Trump threatened to impose tariffs in retaliation for wildfires in Ontario that sent thick smoke pouring into the United States late last week. After watching Sunday’s World Cup final alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump told reporters that the subject had come up.
“Our air has been poisoned. Have a good relationship with Mark Carney, but you know we got to stop the fires up there. If we can help them, we’ll help them. But maybe they should pay us some damages or something, or we should do some tariffs,” the president said Sunday.
On Monday, however, a senior administration official said the president’s latest tariff action was unrelated to his irritation over the wildfires. Instead, the official said, the president was acting in response to Canada’s retaliation for emergency tariffs Trump imposed in April 2025, when U.S. alcohol was removed from Canadian store shelves. The administration has also complained about Canadian limits on auto imports and dairy products.
Monday’s action relies on a never-before-used provision of a 1930 trade law, which provides for tariffs of up to 50 percent against countries that discriminate against U.S. goods. The 30-day delay provides time for the two nations to resolve the dispute before tariffs take effect.
If the tariffs do take effect, they will apply to most Canadian goods, including those that qualify for duty-free treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that Trump negotiated during his first term. Energy, potash fertilizer, critical minerals, fish and products covered by existing national security tariffs will be exempt, said the administration official, who briefed reporters under ground rules that did not allow them to be identified.
That would probably hit consumers with higher prices ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, exacerbating the administration’s political challenges with affordability, said Ed Gresser, vice president of the Progressive Policy Institute in D.C. and a former U.S. trade official.
“If you as a family or you as a business were hoping for some relief this fall, you’re not going to get it. Things are going to get more expensive,” Gresser said.
But it’s not clear that will ever happen. “The fact that it’s delayed 30 days makes me think it’s a negotiating tactic,” said Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding, who served in the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office during the first Trump administration. “It seems like leverage.”
The administration has been negotiating revisions in USMCA, which the president hailed upon signing in 2020 as the “fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed.” Talks with Mexico have been proceeding apace, but negotiations with Canada have yet to begin.
Jamieson Greer, the president’s chief trade negotiator, has made no secret of the administration’s irritation with the Canadian government. The impact of the Canadian wildfires has only aggravated the situation.
Though the administration denied any link between Monday’s tariff announcement and the fires, the president has asked for potential measures that he can take in retaliation, the administration official said.
Greer is scheduled to visit Mexico City starting Wednesday to continue talks with Mexico.
Riley Beggin contributed to this report.
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