Canada Tariff Shock: Everyday Items That Could Cost You Up to 50% More

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Brace yourself for higher prices on Canadian imports — and it’s not just maple syrup and hockey sticks that could cost more.

As the trade war between Canada and the US intensifies, prices for products including steel, aluminum, wool and lumber are expected to climb this week as retaliatory tariffs hit more than $20 billion worth of goods. The new measures went into effect just after midnight Tuesday.

Canada’s counter-tariffs were first announced two weeks ago after negotiations with the US reached a stalemate. The move came just days after the prime minister declared that Canada was “at war” with the US over trade.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney speaking to reporters after suspending trade negotiations with the United States.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced retaliatory tariffs on US goods last month as trade tensions between the two countries continued to escalate.

“We were attacked. You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked,” Carney told reporters on Aug. 22. “That’s fine. We’ve got the reserves. We’ve got the resilience. We’ve got the plan. We’ve got the focus. We will respond.”

Carney said the duties would range from 15% to 50%, with tariffs on individual products designed to match US levies dollar-for-dollar.

The impact could ultimately be felt at the checkout counter.

American products facing a 50% tariff include milk, perfume, golf clubs, steel, aluminum, jackets and T-shirts. Cheese, carpets and certain household appliances, including stoves and air conditioners, will be hit with 25% duties, while forklifts and some industrial molds will face 15% tariffs.

Experts warn the latest levies could hit Midwestern states such as Michigan and Indiana particularly hard because of their heavy reliance on the auto and manufacturing industries. Dairy producers in Wisconsin and Vermont could also feel the squeeze, with 50% tariffs threatening to hurt farmers.

The latest tariffs affect only a fraction of the goods moving across the US-Canada border, where total trade topped $700 billion last year, according to US Census Bureau figures. Still, the measures mark another escalation in the growing trade dispute between the longtime allies.

President Trump raised the stakes again yesterday, threatening to restrict Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier’s access to the US market. Trump said the company would have to build its jets in the US or risk losing access to American buyers.

The tariffs are expected to hit Midwestern states particularly hard.

“If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a ‘piggybank,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Canada imposed its latest tariffs after the US slapped duties on Canadian products including milk, hockey sticks, alcohol and plywood. Trade negotiations collapsed last month, further escalating a dispute that has been brewing for roughly 18 months.

The deepening tensions could also put pressure on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the free-trade pact that took effect in 2020 and replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The agreement is now facing its annual review, with Trump declining to extend the pact for another decade.

Canadian and US government figures show that nearly 68% of Canada’s total exports were shipped to the US this year, with roughly 80% entering duty-free under the USMCA.

“I don’t want Canadian cars, I don’t want Canadian parts, I don’t want Canadian anything,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last month. “They’ve been ripping us off for decades, and it’s going to stop.”