The trade fight between Washington and Ottawa moved into the federal government's own shopping cart on Wednesday, September 16. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum titled "Restoring Reciprocity in Government Procurement" that directs his administration to begin removing Canadian-made goods from what federal civilian agencies buy.
What the memo orders
The memorandum tells the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Trade Representative to identify Canadian-origin items in the federal civil procurement system and to "take all steps permitted by applicable law" to remove them or make them unavailable for purchase. OMB is also to point agencies toward domestic alternatives where the law allows.
The document is addressed to the heads of the Pentagon — which the administration calls the Department of War — the General Services Administration, NASA and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, among others. It sets no deadline. Instead, OMB must report back to the president periodically, and USTR is charged with continuously monitoring how Canada treats American companies in its own public tenders. As is standard, the memo says it creates no right enforceable in court.
The White House's case
According to the White House fact sheet, Canadian provinces have adopted "Buy Canadian" policies that shut out American small businesses, even though Canada enjoys preferential access to more than $280 billion in U.S. government procurement opportunities.
On the other side of the ledger, the federal government has bought roughly $1.6 billion a year in Canadian products since 2021, according to an analysis of federal spending data by trade consultant Eric Miller, president of Rideau Potomac Strategy Group, cited by Canadian media. Miller said Washington would frame the move as "levelling the playing field" against the restrictions imposed by the provinces.
Part of a widening dispute
The memo is the latest in a run of measures against Canada. On September 8, the administration invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 — a rarely used provision that lets the president retaliate against countries that discriminate against U.S. commerce — against Canadian goods including alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motor vehicles. The White House has also said it will not renew the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in its current form.
Because the order covers civilian purchasing and leaves the details to OMB, its real reach will depend on how agencies apply it and on existing trade commitments that bind federal buyers.
Reporting from the White House and CBC News.
