Trade war: the United States closes its door to Canadian products, notably alcohol

On Tuesday, September 29, the United States reached a new level in its trade conflict with Ottawa by closing the door to certain Canadian products, in particular alcohol. It targets all kinds of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, brandy, etc.), lactoserum (or “whey”), a very popular protein resulting from the processing of milk, or even large motorcycles of more than 800 cubic centimeters – which could compete with American Harley-Davidsons.

The White House announced this measure on September 8, after Canada imposed new customs duties on American products, in response to surcharges put in place by Washington against its own exports. “The problem is that they treated the United States very unfairly,” said the American president from the Oval Office. “They behaved like one of the worst countries in the world. (…) We get along well with China, we get along well with the people, and we make good deals. But Canada has proven to be really very difficult to manage,” he added.

Canada, 51st American state?

On September 8, the American executive also raised customs duties on a series of Canadian products, including cheeses. A few days later, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney estimated that the new American measures were "relatively modest" overall. To justify the ban on importing alcoholic beverages, Donald Trump highlighted the boycott, according to him "discriminatory", targeting American alcohol in Canada.

Canadians have thus rebelled against the new American customs duties, but also the repeated calls from Donald Trump to make their country the 51st American state. Since last year, American wines and spirits have disappeared from shelves in most Canadian provinces, which have a monopoly on their sale. If Canadian beer producers are overwhelmingly focused on the local market, the ban remains “serious” for those “who have spent years building a clientele in the United States,” Richard Alexander, president of the Beer Canada organization, said on Monday.