Trump to Levy 50% Tariff on Canadian Alcohol and Other Goods Next Month

President Donald Trump plans to impose a 50-percent tariff on Canadian alcohol, milk, auto parts, and other goods. The president announced the levies, which are set to begin on Aug. 19, in a number of proclamations on Monday after hinting at them during his primetime address to the nation last Thursday.

Trump issued the new tariffs “to offset Canadian discrimination” against the U.S. The 50-percent alcohol tax is in response to Canada’s current ban on U.S. booze, which multiple provinces enacted last March after Trump’s first round of retaliatory tariffs. The boycott saw American wine, beer, and spirits stripped from shelves across Canada and remains intact today in all provinces except Alberta and Saskatchewan, which ended the ban in June 2025.

The Supreme Court struck down Trump’s sweeping global tariffs earlier this year, deeming his employment of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 unconstitutional. The newest levies were issued under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, which authorizes the president to tax countries that discriminate “against the commerce of the United States” if deemed “consistent with the interests” of the country.

Canada’s boycott of U.S. alcohol slashed the American wine industry by 78 percent and the spirits industry by 70 percent in 2025.

The new tariffs come as American politicians lobby for a federal investigation into the ban. U.S. Representative Claudia Tenney, a Republican from New York, introduced the Combating Attacks on our National Alcoholic Drinks by Allies (CANADA) Act earlier this month, which would require U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to investigate the country’s provincial liquor boards for “discriminatory treatment” of American alcohol producers and violating trade law.

A senior White House official told reporters on Monday that the Trump administration remains open to negotiations. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also noted the country is willing to discuss alternative trade deals before the Aug. 19 deadline.

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