Trump’s latest trade actions are ‘not an escalation,’ economist says

Advertisement 1 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Breadcrumb Trail Links HomeNewsCanada Trump's latest trade actions are not 'an escalation,' economist says But one industry that is set to be hit hard is the Canadian alcohol industry, with outright bans on Canadian alcohol products Author of the article: By Jordan Gowling Published Sep 09, 2026 Last updated 26 minutes ago 3 minute read Join the conversation U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on September 9, 2026. PHOTO BY BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Article content OTTAWA – The economic impact from U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest series of presidential proclamations targeting trade with Canada will not have significant impact on the Canadian economy, according to economists. Article content “I think the overall effect might be limited,” said Trevor Tombe, economist and professor at the University of Calgary. “Adjusting what products are covered by the tariffs isn’t something that should be, in my view, interpreted as escalation.” Article content Article content Article content On Tuesday evening, Trump announced import bans on certain Canadian goods, including some alcoholic beverages, from being imported to the United States. Article content NP Posted Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format. Sign Up By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Article content The orders from Trump also ban some dairy products and motorcycles, while adding more products to the list of Canadian exports subject to 50 per cent tariffs that came into effect last month. Article content Trump also removed 50 per cent tariffs from several products, including toilet paper, cement, bedsheets and salt. The bans will come into effect at the end of this month, and the modification of tariffs under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 will take effect on Sept. 15. Article content “They realized they had hit things that they shouldn’t have, and so they took about $1.7 billion dollars off their list, added different products, almost as a one-for-one swap,” said William Pellerin, international trade partner at McMillan LLP, noting that the newly added items on the tariff list amount to about $1.8 billion. Article content Pellerin, like Tombe, said…