Trump orders halt to purchases of Canadian goods in the US
US President Donald Trump ordered the federal procurement agency to stop buying Canadian-made goods amid an escalating trade dispute with Ottawa. As Anadolu Agency reports, he instructed the US General Services Administration to work with the Office of the US Trade Representative to remove Canadian goods from approved supplier lists.
Federal procurement
The measure concerns the Multiple Award Schedules lists. According to Trump, the value of contracts under these lists exceeds $50 billion per year.
Trump said that Canada restricts access to its market for US dairy producers. He also accused Canada’s federal and provincial authorities of barring small US businesses and companies from public procurement. At the same time, the US president claimed that Canada has broad access to similar US public markets, including at the state level.
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Retaliatory tariffs
Last month, trade negotiations between Canada and the United States collapsed, after which the United States imposed 50% tariffs on key Canadian goods. Trump has repeatedly criticized the trade gap between the two countries, calling it one of the reasons for imposing the tariffs.
In response, Canada on Tuesday imposed tariffs on $20 billion worth of US goods. The Canadian side clarified that the counter-tariffs apply only to goods originating in the United States and will not affect shipments that were already in transit on the day the measures took effect.
