U.S. President Donald Trump ordered on the 8th (local time) the exclusion of Canadian products entering the U.S. procurement market through the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program.

President Trump stated on social media Truth Social that day, "I am directing the General Services Administration (GSA), in coordination with the United States Trade Representative (USTR), to take all necessary steps to remove Canadian products from the GSA's Multiple Award Schedule unless Canada restores complete and fair reciprocity to American farmers and businesses."

The Multiple Award Schedule is a system that establishes unit price contracts for multiple companies and products with equivalent or similar quality, performance, and efficiency required by various government agencies, allowing demanding agencies to select and directly purchase companies and products.

President Trump stated that the procurement scale through this system is over 50 billion dollars annually, which is more than about 67 trillion won in Korean currency, though the exact share of Canadian products is unclear.

This measure is interpreted as retaliation against Canada's implementation of up to 50% tariffs on U.S. imports worth 27.6 billion Canadian dollars, or about 20 billion U.S. dollars, starting at midnight that day Eastern Time.

Previously, the United States imposed tariffs of up to 50% on Canadian products worth about 20 billion dollars starting on the 22nd of last month.

With President Trump immediately pulling out retaliatory measures in response to Canada's tit-for-tat tariffs that day, the trade war between the two countries appears to be escalating further.

On Truth Social, President Trump claimed that trade agreements previously concluded with Canada were unfair, arguing in particular that Canada has banned U.S. products from its procurement market.

He stated, "Everyone knows the fact that Canada does not allow our wonderful dairy farmers to sell their products to the Canadian market, and that the only reason Canada makes cars is because of disastrous trade agreements signed during the tenures of other presidents."

He added, "Canada has been ripping us off for years, but what many people do not realize is that the Canadian federal and provincial governments have banned American small businesses and companies from selling products to their government procurement market. This happens despite Canada having massive access to government procurement markets, including U.S. state governments."

President Trump further stated, "This is not reciprocity, it is trade fraud," and added, "From now on, no reciprocity means no access."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)