Our Silly Trade War With Canada Bans Can-Am Spyder And Canyon

As our ludicrous trade war with Canada, of all countries, continues to escalate, the casualties continue to mount. Because Canada has the audacity to not simply roll over and accept our ridiculous tariffs, and has struck back with their own tariffs on U.S. goods instead, the Trump Administration has outright banned certain Canadian products from being imported at all, reports CBS News. These include the Canadian-built Can-Am Spyder and its adventure-oriented cousin, the Canyon.

While the executive order does not call out Can-Am by name, the description of banned vehicles seems specifically written for its models that are made in Canada. From the executive order annex:

Motorcycles (including mopeds) and cycles fitted with a reciprocating internal-combustion piston engine of a cylinder capacity over 800 cc

This leaves out the Origin and Pulse, both because they are electric and because they're made in Mexico, according to ADVRider. That still leaves the Ryker, but a spokesperson at BRP, Can-Am's parent company, did not mention it in a statement to RideApart:

We acknowledge the measures announced by the U.S. government on some Canadian goods imported into the U.S.

On the basis of the information available at this time, we can confirm that our Can-Am Spyder and Canyon models produced in Valcourt, Canada, will be excluded from importation into the U.S., starting September 29, 2026. The impact of these new U.S. measures are expected to be limited on our fiscal 2027, as the vast majority of production and shipments for the current season are completed.

This ban is anything but random. It is direct retaliation for the 50% tariff Canada placed on American-made motorcycles, right down to the description of an internal combustion engine over 800cc, that took effect on September 8. That applies to all Harley-Davidson and Indian motorcycles made in the U.S., though not models built elsewhere.

The ban also includes other items that Canada had slapped retaliatory tariffs on, such as dairy products and most Canadian alcohol. Despite this, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney still refuses to back down. From the Associated Press:

"The most fundamental issue is that the cumulative U.S. demands revealed that they wanted us to become even more reliant on them, not less," he said. "In too many areas, they wanted dependency, not a true economic partnership."

Canada is now looking to develop partnerships elsewhere, particularly with the European Union. It says a lot that our next-door neighbor feels the need to find reliable friends on another continent because it can't trust us anymore, despite decades of cooperation between our countries and the industries that depend on it, particularly the automotive industry.

Meanwhile, everyone is stuck paying higher prices for everything or, thanks to the Trump Administration's latest escalation, not being able to get things at all. The ban is set to take effect September 29, so if you've been on the fence about adding a Can-Am Spyder or Canyon to your garage, act now while supplies last.