White House Bans Imports of Canadian Vehicles, Dairy and Alcohol Amid Trade Tensions

The White House banned imports of some Canadian vehicles, dairy and alcohol products on Tuesday, as officials sent mixed signals on the prospect of a trade deal.

The long list of impacted goods includes motorcycles and mopeds with petrol engines larger than 800cc, whey products and molasses, and a slew of alcoholic beverages — mainly those packaged for direct consumption — from beer and cider to wine, whiskey and vodka.

The products are estimated to total around $19.9 billion of Canadian imports by the American Action Forum.

The import ban, announced earlier this month by the Trump administration, is the latest step in a war of words — and tit-for-tat tariffs — between the U.S. and Canada.

President Donald Trump said on Monday he expected a "fair deal" with Canada within the coming weeks, but continued to strike a combative tone.

"They take advantage of us, they feel entitled ... there's nothing they have that we need," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

"I think what's going to happen is over the next three to four weeks they're going to come to us and they're going to say, 'We're going to get rid of all the tariffs.' We're going to win everything," Trump said.

However, officials suggest little progress towards a deal.

Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told a press conference on Friday that the U.S. was "imposing illegal and unjustified tariffs on sectors of our economy that are causing considerable hardship to businesses and workers across the country."

LeBlanc said the countries were "talking about trying to find alternatives to the current circumstances" but that they were "not going to sign a deal that's bad for Canada."

"We have said we will sign an agreement when we think there is one that is in the interests of Canada's sovereignty and Canada's economy... but we're not waiting by the phone," LeBlanc said.

Ottawa has stopped short of unveiling fresh retaliation since the Sept. 9 announcement of a dairy and alcohol import ban.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has meanwhile spent the month courting closer ties with the European Union as relations with the U.S. fray, suggesting in a recent speech that the White House is "weaponizing" economic policy as a form of "coercion" on other nations.

Canada has imposed tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on CA$27.6 billion worth of a slew of U.S. goods, including steel, dairy, agricultural equipment, paper, household appliances, furniture, clothing and electronics.

It said these were a "dollar for dollar" response to Washington's 50% tariffs on goods including cement, wine, hockey sticks and more, imposed in August.

The measures target a relatively small portion of the annual $715.5 billion trade in goods between the countries, but continued escalation or a prolonged stand-off are expected to significantly impact sectors such as metals and autos, and hurt small and medium-sized businesses on both sides of the border.

The Bank of Canada warned this month that new tariffs had made the country's growth prospects more uncertain and increased upside risks to inflation.