Canadian goods banned from U.S. government purchases in escalating trade fight

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U.S. President Donald Trump directed agencies to remove Canadian goods from government contracts, executing an earlier threat as tensions between the two countries flare.

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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.

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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.

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The procurement order comes after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen offered to make Canada an “associate member” during a speech on Wednesday. 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.”

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Trump signalled 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.”

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At the time, Trump said the Canadian goods and services sold under the so-called Multiple Award Schedule are worth more than US$50 billion each year.

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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.

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