President Trump announced Monday that he has directed the General Services Administration (GSA) to remove Canadian-origin products from its Multiple Award Schedules, the contracting system the federal government uses to purchase goods and services worth more than $50 billion annually.
The order, posted to Truth Social, escalates an ongoing trade dispute between Washington and Ottawa. Trump said the move is a response to what he described as Canada’s refusal to grant American small businesses and companies access to its own government procurement markets, even as Canada retains broad access to U.S. federal and state procurement systems.
“That is not reciprocity, it is a Canadian Trade Scam. From now on, NO RECIPROCITY – NO ACCESS! I am hereby directing the GSA, working with the USTR, to take all necessary steps to REMOVE Canadian-origin products from GSA’s Multiple Award Schedules unless Canada restores full and fair reciprocity for American Farmers and Companies.”
Trump also repeated longstanding complaints that Canada restricts American dairy farmers from selling into the Canadian market and argued that Canada’s auto manufacturing sector exists largely because of past U.S. trade agreements he has criticized. He noted that a similar restriction on Canadian products in federal procurement existed during his first term before being reversed under President Biden.
“This should have been cut off years ago by other Administrations, like it was by mine, only to reinstituted by Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump wrote.
The GSA’s Multiple Award Schedules serve as the primary contracting vehicle federal agencies use to buy commercial goods and services, ranging from office supplies to equipment, making the program a significant source of revenue for companies with access to it. The exact value of Canadian sales into the program has not been publicly disclosed.
The directive marks the latest step in a broader trade confrontation between the two countries, following earlier tariff actions targeting Canadian goods. It remains to be seen whether Canada will alter its own procurement rules in response, or whether the dispute will lead to further retaliatory measures on either side.
Add comment