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The Morning Ottawa's Counter-Tariffs Take Effect, Trump Orders $50 Billion of Canadian Goods Off the Federal Procurement Schedules — "NO RECIPROCITY – NO ACCESS!" — and by Nightfall Signs Five Proclamations Banning Canadian Whisky, Whey and Motorcycles Outright, While His Treasury Secretary Calls Canada "This Little Yippy Dog" and a Republican Senator Urges Him to "Deescalate"
At 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, the retaliatory tariffs Prime Minister Mark Carney announced after U.S.–Canada trade talks collapsed in late August took effect — duties of 15 to 50 percent on roughly $20 billion of American steel, dairy, appliances, farm equipment and electronics. Within hours President Trump answered on Truth Social. Canada, he wrote, "has been ripping us off for years," and its federal and provincial governments "have banned American Small Businesses and Companies from selling into their Government Procurement Markets" while Canadian firms enjoy "broad access into the massive American Government Procurement Market." "That is not reciprocity, it is a Canadian Trade Scam. From now on, NO RECIPROCITY – NO ACCESS!" He said he was "hereby directing the GSA, working with the USTR, to take all necessary steps to REMOVE Canadian-origin products from GSA's Multiple Award Schedules" — contracts he put at "more than 50 BILLION DOLLARS a year" — "unless Canada restores full and fair reciprocity for American Farmers and Companies."
That evening the White House released five proclamations signed under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, the same 1930 provision behind the 50 percent tariffs imposed on July 20. Three of them convert existing tariffs into outright import bans, effective September 29: most Canadian alcoholic beverages (wine, cider, vermouth, brandy, rye, rum, gin, vodka, tequila, liqueurs and cordials), non-alcoholic and malt beer, whey protein concentrates and other whey products, molasses, and motorcycles and mopeds. The others recalibrate the underlying tariff list: rock salt, cement, bed sheets, fishing rods, sugar, toilet paper, towels and napkins come off, and all-terrain vehicles, additional cheeses and dairy ingredients, motorboats, aluminum bars and rods, bamboo furniture, paper products, desks and lamps, golf carts, iron and steel columns and tubing, and mattresses go on at 50 percent from September 15. The dairy proclamation says Canada "maintained the discriminations against the commerce of the United States" after the July action, citing its tariff-rate quota allocations for American cheese. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer called the package "a natural consequence of Canada's continued discriminatory treatment of crucial American exports, ranging from alcoholic beverages to dairy products to motor vehicles," after Canada "walked away from a near-final trade deal" and "chose to embark on senseless retaliation." A senior administration official told reporters an "alternative pathway" could still be negotiated before the bans bite and that the carve-outs were meant "to really minimize the impact on supply chains here."
The tone had been set over the weekend. On Fox News on Saturday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent likened Canada to a dachshund that "used to antagonize" his German shepherd: "This little yippy dog used to bark away, and for a long time, a 110-pound German shepherd was ignoring the dachshund and then one day she had enough." The counter-tariffs, he said, were "negligible" for U.S. prices, and Ottawa "were given the opportunity for a great trade deal and they didn't want it." Sunday and Monday brought the president's renaming of New Mexico, his complaint about Canada's exchange rate and his threat to bar Bombardier from selling aircraft in the United States.
The congressional response on the day itself was thin, with the House out of session and the Senate in pro forma sessions. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who had written to Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about the July tariffs, thanked the administration on Wednesday for the road-salt and cement exemptions — the border town of Frenchville would have paid $10,000 more for salt, and one ready-mix company owner "would pay $150,000 each month" — but noted that "significant tariffs – including those on forest products – remain in effect and will lead to higher costs for Maine families," and urged the administration "to continue to work to deescalate this conflict." Colorado Gov. Jared Polis told CTV that "America does not view Canada as the 51st state, any more than Canada views United States as the 11th or 14th province," adding, "Unfortunately, in our country, that guy's our president, and that's kind of the problem." Ottawa did not announce further retaliation. Carney, in a video address the same day, said "the cumulative U.S. demands revealed that they wanted us to become even more reliant on them, not less," and trade minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canada would "work in good faith and constructively" whenever Washington "is ready to engage in dialogue." Lutnick was due in Mexico City on Wednesday to meet President Claudia Sheinbaum; 50 percent duties on Canadian cars and trucks remain under consideration for January 1.
“I appreciate the Administration's announcement that it will exempt road salt and cement from U.S. tariffs. In my communication with Ambassador Greer and Secretary Lutnick, I focused on road salt and cement as two products crucial to Maine that would be severely affected by these tariffs. I mentioned in a letter to the Administration that Frenchville, a small Maine town on the Canadian border, would incur $10,000 in extra costs for road salt, threatening the town's ability to provide municipal services. I also shared that I had heard from Maine ready-mix cement company owners, one of whom told me his company would pay $150,000 each month because of this tariff. These additional exemptions follow Canada's announcement that it will carve out American seafood and fish products from its retaliatory tariff list, which would have caused significant harm to Maine's lobstermen. However, significant tariffs – including those on forest products – remain in effect and will lead to higher costs for Maine families and uncertainty for businesses. I urge the Administration to continue to work to deescalate this conflict and reach a trade resolution with our Canadian partners.”