Trump Slapped 50% Tariffs on Nearly 500 Canadian Products, and Canada Answered by Keeping American Alcohol Banned
by Jerome London · Thought CatalogUpdated 2 minutes ago, July 23, 2026
Trump just hit nearly 500 Canadian products with 50% tariffs, accusing Canada of “discrimination” against American booze. Canada’s answer: U.S. alcohol stays off the shelves, and the premiers running the ban say folding now would only invite more.
“There is not a chance in hell that U.S. alcohol is going back on the shelf in British Columbia,” Premier David Eby said Tuesday at a meeting of Canadian premiers in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. “The idea of the president, that he can bully us into whatever he wishes, is incorrect.”
Trump announced the new package in a presidential proclamation on Monday, hitting nearly 500 Canadian products with 50% tariffs on goods the White House says range from wine to hockey sticks to cement. Rum, vodka, brandy, tequila, whiskey, milk, cream and natural honey are all on the list. He accused Canada of “unreasonably” restricting American alcoholic beverages and called the country’s policies “Canadian discrimination” against U.S. commerce.
The booze ban goes back to March 2025, when all 10 Canadian provinces and three territories stopped buying, distributing and selling U.S. alcohol in response to Trump’s tariffs. Alberta and Saskatchewan lifted it in June 2025. Everywhere else, it held. Trump said Canadian imports of U.S. alcohol dropped roughly 81% between March 2025 and February 2026 compared with the year before.
Eby admitted the new tariffs will hurt families but argued that folding only invites more pressure. “The one way to embolden a bully is to capitulate. And I don’t think we should embolden Mr. Trump, who clearly is a bully,” he said.
The package also targets the Canadian auto sector in what Prime Minister Carney called a direct violation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, the deal meant to keep trade between the countries tariff-free. It’s the first time Trump has signaled that goods covered under CUSMA won’t be shielded from his tariffs. “Canada, as is its right, has merely matched those measures,” Carney said in a statement Monday.
BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic estimates the round covers roughly $28 billion in annual Canadian exports to the U.S. The Tax Foundation pegs Trump’s tariffs at an average tax increase of $1,000 per U.S. household in 2025, with another $700 expected this year.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says he has no plan to lift his province’s ban either. “It’s clear that the booze bans are having an impact,” he told CTV News, adding that he intends to keep using it as leverage. The tariffs take effect Aug. 19.
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