Trump says Canada ‘entitled’ as his trade ban on alcohol, other goods nears

Hours before U.S. President Donald Trump’s ban on imports of Canadian alcohol, some dairy products and motorcycles is set to go into effect, he accused Canada of being “entitled” when asked if a deal to avert the ban was possible.

“They take advantage of us. They feel entitled, and, you know, they get 95 per cent of the business they do with the United States,” said Trump, speaking to reporters from the Oval Office Monday.

“There’s so many things and they feel entitled, and, you know, they’re not a state. There’s nothing they have that we need.”

Business leaders say the new import ban will lead to a “tornado of changes,” while stakeholders caution how the move will likely hit some harder than others.

“We had a great competitive advantage for manufacturing, and we’re losing that,” says Craig Peters, founder and CEO of Maverick Distillery.

“Just today alone, we’ve got two tractor trailers that are shipping across the border just to try and get them across before that midnight deadline, where all Canadian products will then be banned from entering the U.S.”

Trump signed new executive orders on Sept. 8 to impose a ban on these imports as of Sept. 29 at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time, which he said was in response to retaliatory counter-tariffs by the Canadian government on some U.S. goods. Those measures were triggered after Trump introduced a wave of 50 per cent tariffs on hundreds of Canadian goods in August valued at about C$28 billion.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s president and CEO, Candace Laing, said in a statement on Sept. 9 that these bans are “a tornado of changes at once, intended to overwhelm.”

“For standing up, this is actually exactly what you’d expect. The U.S. Administration is punishing Canada — by punishing themselves — for the whole world to see. They’re seeking to make an example of Canada, even though everyone knows we’re their closest trading partner,” said Laing.

“It will be on the U.S. government to justify to its businesses, workers and communities the price for them of going it alone and paying more to do it.”

The import ban will mean another hit to businesses as it effectively shuts off the U.S. customer base for many, although some economic experts believe the broader economic impact of the bans will be minimal.

“The newly-banned products account for a very small share of our trade with the United States,” said economics professor Joseph Steinberg at the University of Toronto in a statement.

“Going from a tariff of 50 per cent to an outright embargo is far less impactful than going from free trade to embargo.”

Steinberg also said the impact is more symbolic than a material hit to the economy, and it is mostly in retaliation to Canada’s provincial bans on U.S. alcohol initiated since last year.

To date, all provinces and territories, with the exception of Alberta and Saskatchewan, maintain their bans on the sale of U.S. alcohol products.

What will be impact be on alcohol?

Although the majority of alcohol produced within Canada is bought and consumed by Canadians within the country, many individual producers will likely take a hit from the new import bans.

“We had typically sent about 20 to 25 per cent of our product to the U.S. That’s obviously drawing up to be zero, but at the same time, there’s a huge outpouring of Canadian support to support those local brands,” says Peters.

“Even with the uptake in Canadian business, you’re down relative to where you would have been if you could keep just selling to the States. Yeah, shipping to the U.S. was a very important revenue channel.”

Peters adds that it will probably take a few years for his businesses to otherwise make up for that overnight loss in revenue.

“It’ll probably be a year or two or three before we rebound from the channel of business we’re losing,” Peters said.

Spirits Canada, which represents Canadian producers of vodka, whiskey, rum, tequila, gin and other alcohol products, told Global News on Monday that its industry’s position remains unchanged since its statement issued when the ban was first announced on Sept. 8.

“Spirits Canada is very concerned by the United States’ decision to prohibit the importation of certain Canadian alcoholic beverages,” said Spirts Canada in a statement from Sept. 9.

“The consequences for Canada’s spirits sector could be significant.”

Spirits Canada said about half of the nearly $2 billion in product its industry produces annually is shipped to the U.S., and last year, 93 per cent of all exported spirits was headed to the U.S.

“This leaves Canadian producers with limited ability to replace lost U.S. demand in the near term,” the statement said.

Spirts Canada also said that it continues to urge governments to “find a path forward that prevents further escalation, restores stable and predictable market access, and protects the businesses and workers who depend on the Canada-U.S. spirits trade.”

Beer Canada says although the ban will have a minimal impact on the industry as a whole, individual businesses with more U.S. trade exposure will get hit hard.

“More than 90 percent of the beer Canadians buy is brewed in Canada, so this is an industry built for the domestic market,” said Richard Alexander, president of Beer Canada in a statement.

“But for the Canadian brewers who have spent years building customers in the United States, tonight’s ban turns a 50 percent tariff into a closed border, with no exemption under CUSMA. For those businesses, this is serious.”

Alexander also said Canadian beer producers are already being impacted financially by separate tariffs on aluminum and packaging that have driven up costs for more than a year, and many breweries have had to absorb those costs.

Canada’s wine growers are also bracing for what an industry representative expects to be “lasting consequences.”

“The U.S. market is one that Canadian wineries have spent many years building. Even a temporary loss of access can have lasting consequences because relationships with consumers, importers, distributors, and retailers take years to establish and can be difficult to rebuild,” said Dan Paszkowski, president and CEO of Wine Growers Canada in a statement.

“In a period of significant trade uncertainty, wineries and growers need certainty to make investment decisions, plan production and build for future growth.”

How will the ban hit the dairy sector?

As many Canadian cheese and other dairy products are also targeted by these bans, Dairy Farmers of Canada said it’s “disappointed.”

“Canadian dairy farmers are primarily focused on producing milk for Canadians, and we’re disappointed to see certain dairy exports targeted,” said Dairy Farmers of Canada in a statement.

“The reality is that tariffs and bans will have impacts in both countries, disrupting supply chains and may make things harder for food manufacturers.”

Statistics Canada reported just over $700 million in dairy exports to the U.S. in 2024, though it’s unclear how much of that would have been affected by a full ban like the one Trump has threatened.

Trade negotiations between Canada and the U.S. have been mostly on pause since Prime Minister Mark Carney said in August that Canada walked away from a bad deal.

Carney cited three main issues with the proposed deal, including last-minute tariff changes that tipped the scales in favour of the U.S., that the U.S. wanted to influence Canada’s ability to create trade partnerships with other nations, and there were undisclosed requirements he said undermined French Canadian language and cultural values.

Trump’s trade czar, Jamieson Greer, said last week that the president was “comfortable” with the current pause in trade talks, and there was “no urgency” to return to the bargaining table.

Carney has also said there are no plans to escalate the trade war further, but it is unclear if these bans can be avoided, or how long they may last for.

This, Steinberg says, is why “I think we’re in a holding pattern.”

“As has been the case for the last 18 months, our first priority remains on protecting and supporting Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses from these unjustified actions,” said a spokesperson for LeBlanc in a statement.

“Our core focus is on what we can control: building strength at home, diversifying our partnerships abroad, and building Canada strong for all Canadians.”

– with a file from Global News’ Reggie Cecchini