Ottawa, Canada - President Donald Trump's latest tariffs on Canada came into effect on Tuesday, hitting Canadian cheeses and motorboats as well as a wide range of other exports.

The move comes weeks ahead of US midterm elections, as households and businesses grapple with the high costs of living – made worse by Trump's trade war.

The latest amendments change the mix of Canadian products impacted by 50% US duties. Senior US officials maintained that the tariffs only apply to a small amount of overall bilateral trade.

Various cheeses, motorboats, papers, and aluminum and steel products were added to the list, as were mattresses and certain types of furniture. Toilet and facial tissues, fishing gear, and whiskey in containers exceeding a gallon are now exempt from levies.

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Also excluded are road salts, needed in states experiencing harsher winter weather, and cement key to construction projects.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine, whose reelection in November will be key to Republicans retaining control of the chamber, said she had specifically raised the impact of tariffs on road salt and cement with the Trump administration.

The duties mark the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the North American neighbors, which picked up steam when Trump slapped 50% tariffs on $20 billion of imports after trade talks collapsed in August.

It's the first of two measures announced last week, the second being a ban on some alcoholic beverages and dairy goods that will come into effect on September 29.

As new tariffs reared their ugly heads, Carney spent Monday at the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto, which brings together some of the world's largest pension and sovereign wealth funds with business leaders and Canadian politicians.

Carney is using the two-day summit, which continues on Tuesday, to continue his push for foreign investment in Canada that'll help protect the country from Trump's repeated economic attacks.

The plan is, effectively, to attract $1 trillion-worth of investment in mining, pipelines, ports, artificial intelligence, manufacturing, and construction. Carney hopes to reach that goal within five years.

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"Carney is trying to turn a period of external pressure and uncertainty caused by the Trump trade war into an affirmative agenda," Vina Nadjibulla, Center for Strategic Statecraft CEO, was cited as saying by Al Jazeera.

"Build more at home, diversify Canada's economic relationships abroad and attract the capital needed to do both."

"The summit can open doors and create relationships," Nadjibulla explained. "Success will ultimately depend on how many of those conversations turn into serious investment, financing, and projects that actually get built."