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Trump bans Canadian goods from U.S. government purchases
Order comes after EU offers to make Canada an 'associate member'
A tractor-trailer crosses the Peace Bridge at the border in Fort Erie, Ontario. (Cole Burston/Bloomberg)
Key Takeaways:
- President Donald Trump ordered agencies to remove Canadian goods from U.S. government contracts, citing Canada's "Buy Canadian" policy and procurement barriers.
- The move escalates a trade dispute that intensified after an August truce collapsed and follows Canada's deepening engagement with the European Union.
- Canada and the EU are expected to discuss a proposed associate membership framework as Trump threatens additional tariffs and further trade restrictions.
President Donald Trump directed agencies to remove Canadian goods from government contracts, executing an earlier threat as tensions between the two countries flare.
In a presidential memorandum, the White House criticized Canada for its barriers to U.S. companies seeking access to the Canadian government market through a “Buy Canadian” policy.
The order is the latest escalation by Trump in a trade fight that ramped up over the summer, as tit-for-tat tariff measures between the U.S. and Canada followed the last-minute collapse of a trade truce in August.
The procurement order comes after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered to make Canada an “associate member” during a speech on Sept. 16. Trump criticized the proposal, calling it potentially a “hostile act” and threatened more tariffs on European goods or to “stop trading with Europe on many things.”
Trump signaled he would cut Canadian goods from U.S. government purchases in a social media post earlier this month, “unless Canada restores full and fair reciprocity for American Farmers and Companies.”
At the time, Trump said the Canadian goods and services sold under the so-called Multiple Award Schedule are worth more than $50 billion each year.
A senior administration official later clarified that although the White House calculates the U.S. procurement market at that amount, Canadian companies don’t always account for all of it.
