News Milk
Tariff break does not apply to Canadian dairy
The United States plans to impose tariffs on Canadian dairy products and timber in the coming days. These products are an exception to the month-long tariff pause that President Trump is generally proposing for the neighboring country. "We'll do it today, or Monday or Tuesday," the American president said yesterday during a press conference at the White House.
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Choose the subscription that suits youTrump sees it as reciprocal tariffs. In the sense that, according to him, Canada itself also applies hefty import duties on these products when American dairy and lumber cross the border. Trump wants to retaliate in the same coin within a few days, with the aim of protecting American farmers and its own economy. "Canada has been ripping us off for years through their exports of lumber and dairy," says Trump, who says that the tariff on milk could even rise to as much as 241%.
USMCA
Trump's allegation is true, but only applies if exports reach a certain quota. This is intended to protect Canada's own dairy farming sector, as Trump himself agreed during his first term in office when the USMCA trade agreement with neighbouring countries Canada and Mexico was negotiated. This is the successor to the former NAFTA. But according to Trump, the current agreement is no longer adequate, as he stated several times during the campaign. In recent years, the agreement has led to the necessary legal tug of war in the dairy sector. In 2024, approximately 50.000 tons of dairy products crossed the US border from Canada each month.
Whether the US tariff on dairy and lumber from Canada will actually be implemented in the coming days remains to be seen. In the past week, US tariff threats to Mexico, Canada, China and also Europe have been postponed several times.
