Following a collapse of trade talks, the US has imposed a 50% tariff on selected goods from Canada, including “beer, wine, liquor, cider and other fermented beverages”.

Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has promised to match the tariffs “dollar for dollar”.

The escalation is the latest in an ongoing trade war between the two historic partners. The two sides had appeared to agree to a deal lowering tariffs on steel, aluminium and cars on Friday before a collapse in negotiations.

Each side has blamed the other for the failure to reach an accord.

Carney said in a statement that: “Last-minute changes in the US proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic and called into question the reliability of any deal.”

While US trade representative, Jamieson Greer told Fox & Friends: “We’ve said enough, and so we’ve taken countermeasures… Our interest is in protecting American workers and protecting American supply chains.

“They’ve always had the best deal, and they still would have an even better deal, but they didn’t want that… We’re moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation.”

The US had previously placed 50% tariffs on Canadian alcohol imports in July after Washington accused Canada of unfair discrimination against American-made automobiles, alcohol and dairy products.

Canadian provinces had removed US spirits from shelves in March 2025 in retaliation for US tariffs.

According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), “Alberta and Saskatchewan are the only two provinces that have since lifted their bans”, and as a result, between March and December 2025 US exports to Canada fell by more than 70% year-on-year.

In response to the latest increase in tariffs on Canadian alcohol, Chris Swonger, president and chief executive of DISCUS, said: “We appreciate the administration’s recognition that American distillers have been unfairly targeted by these Canadian provincial sales bans.

“This treatment of US spirits products has caused significant economic harm to our industry. It is unfortunate that the Canadian provinces’ continued refusal to return US spirits products to store shelves over the past year and a half has contributed to this outcome.

“We encourage policymakers on both sides of the border to pursue a negotiated solution that restores market access for U.S. spirits throughout Canada and returns spirits trade to a zero-for-zero tariff framework.”