U.S.-Canada Trade Relations Enter a More Dangerous Phase

Posted 7/23/26

The move marks a sharp escalation in U.S.-Canada trade tensions: Trump is using a never-before-tested provision of the Smoot-Hawley law to penalize Canadian measures that were themselves largely adopted in retaliation for earlier U.S. tariffs. By applying the new duties even to qualifying goods under the USMCA, the administration is testing both the durability of the North American trade pact and Canada’s willingness to resist renewed economic pressure.

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