U.S. bans select Canadian imports including alcohol and motorcycles
The ban on items like spirits and whey takes effect Tuesday, adding pressure to sectors already strained by tariffs.
The United States will ban imports of some Canadian alcoholic drinks, dairy byproducts, molasses and motorcycles starting Tuesday.
The ban is scheduled to come into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET. It delivers another blow to businesses already struggling in those sectors after months of tariffs and uncertainty.
"It's just a way to try to mess with Canada and that's what we're looking at. The U.S. has decided they want to ramp up a little more pressure," said Barry Appleton, co-director of the Centre for International Law at the New York Law School.
READ MORE: Sudden closure of ILAC leaves international students stranded, families out thousands in tuition
Appleton said bans are harder to remove than tariffs. "You can negotiate down a tariff, it's a number, but a ban is usually here to stay. And so what Washington's telling us here in Canada is: 'New ball game, new mayor, watch out.'"
A senior White House administration official and international trade experts said the bans are designed to discourage any more retaliation from Canada and other countries on the receiving end of the Trump administration's economic policy.
One analysis from Derek Holt, vice-president and head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank, found the bans on alcohol, dairy and motorcycles will be negligible because Canada sends very little dairy and few motorcycles south of the border.
"These actions are face-saving by the U.S. administration, not substantive in nature and that’s a positive," Holt said in a note to investors on Sept. 9.
The incoming bans cover most alcohol products, including beer and various types of wine, whisky, bourbon, rum, vodka, vermouth, tequila, mezcal and brandy. Spirits make up the majority of the alcoholic goods sent south.
Cal Bricker, CEO of Spirits Canada, said the ban only adds to months of concern because Canada exports much of the alcohol it makes to the U.S. About half of the $2 billion in spirits produced in Canada annually is sold to the U.S., Bricker said.
Alcohol exports to the U.S. were around $1.2 billion last year, according to one analysis.
But one Ontario producer said Tuesday's ban might not make a critical difference to many businesses because severe tariffs effectively amount to a moratorium anyway. "The reality is that once you add 50 per cent tariffs, it becomes extremely difficult to try to sell on the market," said Matt Johnston of craft brewer Collective Arts in Hamilton, Ont.
Dairy and molasses targeted
The dairy import ban focuses on whey, a byproduct of cheese-making used to add protein to other products. Skyrocketing demand for protein-rich goods has already led to shortages of food-grade whey protein and pushed prices to record highs.
Nearly half of the $73 million in general and modified whey imported into the U.S. last year came from Canada, according to trade data south of the border. The eight different types of whey set to be banned, including protein concentrates and modified whey, make up a fraction of that figure.
Businesses say the ongoing trade upheaval causes more harm than the ban will. "It's very tough," said Dan Crosby, CEO of BioSteel Sports Nutrition in Windsor, Ont., who sells to professional sports teams and athletes. "You've spent so much resources and money and time trying to figure out how to handle this and it gets clawed back at the 11th hour. It makes it very difficult to work on your business."
The incoming ban would cover molasses products including invert and cane molasses. It comes after months of American sugar producers lobbying their government to raise tariffs on foreign sugar products, saying they're being undercut by cheaper products from abroad.
They're also taking aim at Canadian refineries, who they claim are importing mixes of raw sugar, molasses and water but disguising them as pure molasses as a way to circumvent tariffs and quotas.
Canada only exported 5,092 motorcycles of any kind in 2025, so the effect of a ban would be limited nationally. But it hits hard in Quebec, where Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government has a significant voter base.
Canada included American motorcycles, like Harley-Davidsons, on its list of 50 per cent counter-tariffs in August.
BRP, maker of Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Can-Am vehicles, said two of its three-wheel roadster models, the Can-Am Spyder and Canyon, made at a factory near its headquarters in Valcourt, Que., will be refused entry to the U.S. market as of Tuesday.
A spokesperson said the shift won't start to threaten the bottom line until next spring. "The impact of these new U.S. measures are expected to be limited on our fiscal 2027, as the vast majority of production and shipments for the current season are completed," spokesperson Emilie Proulx wrote in an email on Thursday.
With files from CBC News and Forex Factory