Why did Donald Trump slap a 50% tariff on Canadian hockey sticks?

US President Donald Trump (left) and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. [ChatGPT]

Donald Trump has launched a full-scale trade war against Canada, one of America's closest allies, after last-minute negotiations failed to bridge key differences. The two countries appeared close to a deal just days ago, but talks broke down, leaving both sides trading retaliatory tariffs. The inclusion of hockey sticks among the US targets has drawn particular attention and raised questions about the administration's motives.

US player Megan Keller (second from left) scores the overtime winner in the women's ice hockey final at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Feb. 19 (local time). [Getty Images]

Ice hockey is Canada's national sport. It is also one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States, alongside baseball, basketball and American football.

Yet the actual volume of hockey sticks Canada exports to the United States is not large enough to shake the Canadian economy. The Canadian products subject to the 50% tariff Washington imposed Saturday — including hockey sticks — amount to about $20 billion, roughly 5 percent of Canada's total exports to the US. Analysts say this reinforces the view that the economic impact of the tariffs is limited.

Newsweek noted that American consumers have been shifting toward Chinese-made hockey sticks rather than Canadian ones. Reuters also reported that "effectively only one major hockey stick factory remains in Canada, and demand for the wooden sticks it produces is declining," adding that "players prefer ultra-lightweight composite sticks manufactured overseas."

Lusitan Hockey, one of Canada's leading ice hockey equipment makers, exports about 100,000 of the roughly 400,000 traditional wooden hockey sticks it produces each year to the United States.

Wooden hockey sticks stacked at the Sherwood hockey stick factory in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, in June 2007. [Getty Images]

Analysts warn, however, that including hockey sticks on the tariff list could end up passing costs on to ordinary American households. Families of beginners and youth players — rather than professional athletes — stand to bear a disproportionate share of the burden.

The Ice Hockey News, a Canadian specialty outlet, said "adding a 50% tariff on top of already expensive sports equipment could place a significant burden on hockey families in the United States." It added that because American consumers will find it difficult to source domestically made alternatives to Canadian hockey sticks, the additional cost from the tariffs is likely to be passed directly on to retail prices.

Hockey sticks on display at a store in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Sunday (local time). [AFP]

Analysts say the decision to include Canadian hockey sticks on the tariff list is driven more by political and symbolic messaging than by economic pressure.

The Trump administration's list of Canadian tariff targets is sweeping, ranging from sports equipment including hockey sticks to alcohol and everyday consumer goods — with whiskey, clothing and furniture among the items subject to the 50% levy. The breadth of the list suggests the administration seeks to squeeze not only Canada's major industries but also its consumer goods and lifestyle products.

Mark Manger, a professor at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, said "Donald Trump is bringing in something that is entirely symbolic and emotional." He added that "it looks more like an attempt to provoke Canada," noting that "the volume of hockey sticks exported from Canada to the United States is not large enough to be seen as a meaningful tool of economic pressure."

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said the move appeared designed primarily to provoke a reaction from Canada.

Dan Kelly, president of the federation, said "the concern is that this could be one of the first cases where the core provisions of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement are seriously disrupted," adding that "many small and medium-sized enterprises that have not considered export-related tariffs a major burden may now find themselves having to treat tariffs as a new business risk."

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