Trump slaps 50% tariffs on Canada and Carney vows to 'intensify' trade talks

Image source, ReutersByNadine Yousif, Toronto, Francisco Velasquez and Peter Hoskins, Business reportersPublished20 July 2026Updated 17 minutes agoUS President Donald Trump has imposed a 50% tariff on a wide range of goods imported from Canada, in retaliation for what he called "unequal treatment" of US cars, dairy and alcohol.

Everyday consumer items like wine and hockey sticks and industrial goods such as cement are among the goods targeted. However, several key exports will be spared, such as energy, potash, critical minerals and fish.

Prime Minister Mark Carney responded by saying Canada stood ready to "intensify" trade talks with the US in the coming weeks.

The White House said the duties would take effect in 30 days. It marks a major escalation in trade tensions between the North American neighbours.

These tensions have been simmering since Trump returned to office in January 2025 and unleashed a wide-ranging global programme of tariffs, sometimes to pursue objectives not directly linked to trade.

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods that are paid to the government by companies bringing in the foreign products.

The US Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that many of Trump's tariffs imposed globally under emergency powers were illegally enacted.

But Trump has recently sought other legal avenues through which to enact his agenda, and his latest action on Monday night uses a different, obscure law that is untested in court.

Canada, which is one of the US's closest trading partners, was one of the few countries to retaliate last year against Trump's tariffs.

It placed a 25% levy of its own on about C$30bn (£16bn; $21.7bn) worth of US goods being brought into Canada. Carney later dropped some of them.

A White House fact sheet published on Monday discussing the new tariffs said they applied regardless of whether the product was included under the existing free trade agreement between Canada, the US and Mexico, known as the USMCA.

The US has been maintaining active tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on Canadian steel, aluminium and copper. It also charges a 35% tariff on Canadian softwood lumber, alongside a 25% tax on non-US parts in cars.