Which Canadian Items Will Be More Expensive Because Of Trump’s 50% Tariffs?

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Tuesday that he had spoken with President Donald Trump about the newly imposed 50% tariff on most Canadian goods, and said that the two had agreed to “intensify negotiations in the coming weeks.” But what exactly does that mean for your wallet?

Trump signed three proclamations Monday imposing tariffs on Canadian imports, in response to accusations that Canada has discriminated against “crucial American exports,” according to the White House press release. As of Sept. 1, 2025, the government of Canada has held a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum products and auto imports from the U.S.

Carney said in a statement issued on Monday that Canada has “merely matched” the tariffs implemented by the U.S.

“This trade dispute has raised costs for families, particularly in the U.S. Canada stands ready to engage intensively to address outstanding issues with the U.S. to the mutual benefit of our citizens,” Carney wrote.

Here are some of the items that will be impacted:

• Dairy products
• Maple syrup
• Nonalcoholic beer
• Alcoholic drinks such as beer made from malt and sparkling wine
• Essential oils, including orange, lemon, mint, eucalyptus
• Natural honey
• Feathers
• Certain cut flowers, including tulips, hyacinth, orchids, and lilies
• Vegetable seeds, including onion and beet
• Eye and lip makeup products
• Manicure and pedicure products
• Candles
• Office and school supplies
• Plates, cups, saucers, soup bowls, cereal bowls, sugar bowls, creamers, gravy boats and other serving dishes
• Pet products, including dog leashes
• Wood products, from furniture pieces to hockey sticks
• Machinery parts
• Electronics
• Fine art and antiques

Normally, Canadian products can enter the U.S. tariff-free under the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), as long as they meet the free-trade pact’s rules. These new tariffs break that deal: For the roughly 500 products on the list, the 50% tariff applies even to products that would otherwise qualify for tariff-free treatment under USMCA. However, a few products — including energy, potash and certain critical minerals — were left off the list.

“More than 90% of goods coming from Canada were USMCA compliant,” Alex Durante, a senior economist at the Tax Foundation, told HuffPost. “With this particular tariff list, I think these are targeting some of the goods that before would have been exempt.”

The tariffs fall under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, so they are expected to take effect 30 days after signing. Section 338 grants the president power to impose tariffs of up to 50% on goods from foreign countries that are found to be discriminating against the U.S.

The U.S. and Canada could reach a deal by Aug. 19. It’s unclear whether Trump and Carney have scheduled a time to speak.

The main U.S. demand is that Canadian provinces reverse a 2025 decision to remove U.S.-imported alcohol from their shelves, which Carney told reporters on Tuesday is up to “the provinces themselves, each individually.”

There is also a question of whether this will survive challenges in court.

“There are credible claims such as non-delegation, but they will be difficult to sustain,” John Veroneau, former USTR general counsel and deputy under George W. Bush, told HuffPost. “Non-delegation,” in this case, refers to how Congress cannot hand over too much tariff-setting power to the president, but it may be difficult to sustain in court given how broadly Section 338 was written.

While the president has repeatedly claimed that Americans are not responsible for paying for his tariffs in the past, that is not the case.

The products under the tariffs are worth around $20 billion. “[This] is only about 5% of all U.S.-Canada trade,” Durante said. “Overall, it’s quite small.”

Implementing the tariff would result in $30 more per household annually, John Iselin, the associate director of economic analysis at the Yale Budget Lab, told HuffPost. (The $30 increase applies only to the Canadian tariffs — a broader round of tariffs on other countries, which the administration has also floated separately, could push total household costs higher.)

“These are very high tariffs on their face — 50% tariff rates on these selected products,” Iselin said. “But these products end up being a very small slice of the actual imports we get from Canada.”

But with certain products — particularly perishable ones like dairy — Durante told HuffPost that Americans are likely to see “more immediate price impacts.”

As for whether U.S. companies will eat the cost or raise prices for shoppers, it really depends on the businesses. Even if businesses eat the extra costs to not raise product prices, it can then choose to “reduce investment and employment” to save money, Durante said, which could then “have negative impacts on the economy and those consumers.”

While Trump has previously suggested that tariffs could be implemented in response to the Canadian wildfire smoke that impacted the U.S. last week, he told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that the wildfires are a separate issue and not the motivation behind this tariff decision.

According to U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer, the main focus is to “hold Canada accountable for its retaliation and discrimination” against the U.S. and to “correct trade imbalances and ensure fairness for American workers, farmers, and businesses.”

“While the Administration continues to secure fair and reciprocal trade deals with our trading partners, Canada, unlike other partners and allies, continues to retaliate against the United States for its efforts to rebalance trade and protect U.S. industry in national-security sensitive sectors,” Greer said in a statement on Monday.