Does Canada Really Have A 250% Tariff In Place On US Dairy Products Imported Into Canada? Here Are The Facts #CanadaFinance

Trade tensions between the United States and Canada are heating up again, with President Donald Trump claiming that Canada has been “ripping us off for years” with a 250% tariff on U.S. dairy products. But is this really the case? While the claim has some truth to it, the full picture is more complicated. Here’s what you need to know.

Canada does impose high tariffs—sometimes as high as 298.5%—on U.S. dairy products. However, these tariffs do not apply across the board. According to fact-checking site Snopes, these rates only kick in when U.S. dairy exports exceed the quotas set under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020.

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Becky Rasdall Vargassenior vice president of trade and workforce policy at the International Dairy Foods Association, clarified the issue, stating: “It is accurate that Canada imposes a tariff of approximately 250% on U.S. exports of certain dairy products into Canada. However, that tariff would only apply if we were able to reach and exceed the quota on U.S. dairy exports agreed to under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.”

So far, these quotas have never been exceeded, meaning that the higher tariff rates have not actually been applied.

Trump has prioritized trade throughout his presidency, and his most recent moves are consistent with that position. In March, he imposed a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, though some of these tariffs were delayed until April 2. He also announced an additional 50% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum.

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In response, Canadian Trade Minister Mary ng called Trump’s potential dairy tariffs “completely unjustified” and emphasized that Canada has been working to remove existing U.S. tariffs. She also defended Canada’s dairy system, which is structured to protect domestic farmers through a supply-management model. This system limits imports through tariff rate quotas, allowing a certain amount of dairy to enter the country at little to no tariff before higher tariffs take effect.