Trump Calls Canada 'One of the Worst Countries' Hours Before Import Ban on Alcohol, Dairy and Motorcycles Takes Effect

Since Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed on August 21, the dispute has escalated from tariffs to a straight-up import ban. President Trump signed proclamations on September 8 under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 banning Canadian alcohol, some dairy byproducts and motorcycles. That ban is set to take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday, September 29.

Speaking from the Oval Office Monday, Trump called Canada "one of the worst countries in the entire world," according to Newsweek. He said Canadian leaders "feel entitled" and claimed "there's nothing they have that we need."

Trump also predicted the standoff will end soon, on his terms. "They're gonna come in and they're gonna say, 'Sir, we are sorry,'" he told reporters, according to BNN Bloomberg and narcity. He said he expects Canada to reach out within three or four weeks and that the U.S. will "win everything."

The Dairy Claim, Checked

Trump repeated his line that Canada "charges our farmers 400% tariffs and more." Newsweek checked that claim against the Canadian Dairy Commission, whose spokesperson Philippe Charlebois said in a March statement that "no U.S. dairy products imported by Canada have been subjected to those higher tariffs" because U.S. exports have stayed within the quota levels set under the USMCA. The over-quota tariffs Trump is describing exist, but they only kick in above negotiated thresholds American exporters haven't hit.

A fair reading of Trump's broader complaint, though, isn't just about the 400% number. His administration argues Canada runs a protectionist system overall, from provincial alcohol bans to dairy supply management, and that the headline tariff figure illustrates a structure designed to keep American goods out even if it hasn't been triggered yet. Whether that structure amounts to unfair treatment of American exporters versus ordinary protection of a domestic industry every country practices in some form is the policy argument at stake.

The Ban's Real-World Bite

Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc's office, through spokesperson Gabriel Brunet, said Monday it is focused on "building strength at home" and "diversifying our partnerships abroad" rather than reversing course, according to BNN Bloomberg.

Business owners are already feeling the effects ahead of the ban's start. Craig Peters, founder and CEO of Maverick Distillery, told Global News the ban will cause "a tornado of changes," a phrase Candace Laing, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, also used. Global News reported two tractor-trailers were racing to clear the border Monday before the midnight deadline.

Economists are split on the scale of the damage. Joseph Steinberg, an economics professor at the University of Toronto, told Global News the newly banned products account for "a very small share" of Canada-U.S. trade and that the shift from a 50% tariff to an outright embargo is "far less impactful than going from free trade to embargo." He called the move "more symbolic than a material hit." RBC Economics separately said Canada's retaliatory tariffs, covering roughly $20 billion in U.S. goods according to NPR, are unlikely to dent overall U.S. growth even as they hit specific sectors hard.

Bombardier and the China Line

Trump widened the fight Monday by threatening Canada's Bombardier on Truth Social: "NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren't good enough!" Flavio Volpe, president of the APMA Canada manufacturing trade group, pushed back on X, noting Bombardier uses U.S.-made GE and Honeywell engines and employs about 3,000 American workers, per NPR.

Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro called Canadians "the most difficult and arrogant of the traders" and claimed Ottawa was "getting in bed with" Beijing, NPR reported, an accusation that sits awkwardly next to the fact that Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House the same week. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer struck a cooler tone last week, saying "the reality is President Trump is comfortable where we are on Canada" and that "there's no urgency on our side."

Prime Minister Mark Carney, for his part, has accused U.S. negotiators of trying to restrict Canada's ability to sign other trade deals and of targeting Canadian language and cultural protections, a claim the U.S. side disputes without offering its own detailed account of what broke down.

The immediate question is whether Trump's three-to-four-week timeline holds. Nothing in Monday's statements from LeBlanc's office suggested Ottawa is preparing to reopen talks on Washington's terms, and eight of Canada's ten provinces are still restricting U.S. alcohol sales more than a year after those bans began.