Trump orders Canadian goods purged from $50b US procurement market [Trump Today]

President Donald Trump said Tuesday (local time) that he had ordered Canadian products excluded from the US government's procurement market under the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS). The move marks the latest US countermeasure against Canada in an escalating tariff dispute.

"I am directing the General Services Administration (GSA), together with the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), to take all necessary action to remove Canadian products from the GSA's Multiple Award Schedule unless Canada restores full and fair reciprocity for American farmers and businesses," Trump wrote on Truth Social that day.

The Multiple Award Schedule is a system under which multiple companies offering products of comparable quality, performance and efficiency sign fixed-price contracts with the government for goods needed by various agencies. Under the arrangement, agencies can purchase products at the contracted unit prices and are free to select which companies or products to buy from directly.

Trump said the program handles more than $50 billion in procurement annually. It remains unclear, however, how much of that volume involves the Canadian products now targeted by the measure.

The exclusion of Canadian goods from government procurement is a retaliatory measure against Canada's latest tariffs. Starting at midnight Eastern time Tuesday, Canada imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on C$27.6 billion (about $20 billion) worth of US imports.

Earlier, the United States had imposed tariffs of up to 50 percent on about $20 billion worth of Canadian products starting Aug. 22. Canada had continued tariff negotiations with the US, but recently declared the talks a complete breakdown and shifted to a retaliatory tariff stance. In response, Trump immediately followed with his own retaliatory measure.