According to CNBC, the White House has taken significant escalation measures in the US-Canada trade war. These include three main aspects: 1. Expanding the list of goods subject to the 50% tariff; 2. Clarifying that Section 232 tariffs will be superimposed on these existing tariffs; 3. Further escalating some goods already facing the 50% tariff to outright import bans.
The "tariff superposition" aspect is potentially significant, especially for steel, aluminum, and other metal products. The direct import ban appears to be partly due to the fact that the legal provisions used in this move do not allow tariffs higher than 50%, but seem to permit import bans.
Currently, there are no specific estimates of the trade volume affected by this measure. However, it is clear that this is a significant escalation. Looking back at all of Trump's statements and actions regarding tariffs throughout his two terms, he has never used trade law to directly ban the import of certain products, let alone products from a major trading partner and neighboring country.
