U.S. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Wednesday to identify and remove Canadian-origin goods from the federal procurement system, the White House said.
In the memo, Trump directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the United States Trade Representative to "identify and take all steps permitted by applicable law with respect to Canadian origin items in the Federal civil procurement system that can, where warranted, be removed or made non-available for purchase".
The memorandum comes amid escalating trade tensions between the United States and Canada. The United States imposed 50 percent tariffs on about 20 billion dollars worth of Canadian goods, effective Aug. 22, prompting Canada to retaliate with matching tariffs on an equivalent value of U.S. imports, which took effect Sept. 8.
In a post on Truth Social on Sept. 8, Trump said he had ordered Canadian products removed from U.S. government contract lists in response to Canada's counter-tariffs. He said he was "directing the GSA (General Services Administration), working with the USTR (United States Trade Representative), to take all necessary steps to remove Canadian-origin products from GSA's Multiple Award Schedules unless Canada restores full and fair reciprocity for American farmers and companies".
Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday when delivering a closing keynote at the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto that he backed the federal government's decision to walk away from trade talks with the United States "to see a trade war commence in earnest", as he believes that "our government had no choice but to take this path".
"The current U.S. administration views our level of economic integration as incompatible with our separate sovereignty. Thus, to maintain that sovereignty, we must pursue diminished reliance upon the United States. There will be significant cost to this effort, but those are costs that I hope and believe Canadians are able and prepared to accept," he added.
Trump signs memorandum to remove Canadian products from US federal procurement
