Overview
- The USTR’s annual barriers report singles out provincial liquor boards, which control what alcohol stores carry, for removing U.S. wine, beer and spirits after tariffs and calls for those brands to return permanently.
- Washington also faults Ottawa’s “Buy Canadian” rule for contracts of $25 million or more, citing hurdles like demands for board details or proof that a Canadian subsidiary is independent from a U.S. parent.
- The document lists other obstacles for U.S. firms that include over‑quota dairy tariffs as high as 245 percent on cheese and 298 percent on butter, delays in validating aircraft in Canada, and weak enforcement of Canada’s forced‑labour import ban.
- U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says talks with Canada trail progress with Mexico and has floated bilateral deals as the CUSMA review nears, following a recent LeBlanc–Greer meeting in Washington.
- The USTR reports U.S. goods exports to Canada reached $336.5 billion in 2025, about 4 percent lower than 2024, which shows how large the market is for both sides.