Canadian Tariffs on U.S. Goods

How it works

Check your HS codes against the counter-tariff list

Canadian tariffs on U.S. goods are applied at the tariff item level, so your HS classification determines your rate. Enter the Canadian HS codes you import under, and the tool tells you whether your goods appear on the counter-tariff list, which rate applies, and what the rate was before September 8.

01

Confirm origin

Confirm your country of origin is  the United States

02

Enter your Canadian HS codes

One per line or separated by commas

03

Click Check impact

Hit Check impact and review your results

Codes that do not match anything on the list are shown too, not hidden, so you know every code you entered was actually checked.

This tool covers the Canadian direction, meaning what Canada charges on goods arriving from the U.S. For the opposite direction, our Tariff Impact Checker for U.S. tariffs covers Section 301, 232 and 338 measures on goods entering the United States.

Not sure a code is classified correctly to begin with? Confirm it with our Canada tariff lookup before you rely on the result.

Rates and coverage

What Canada is charging on U.S. goods from September 8

From 12:01 a.m. on September 8, 2026, Canada is applying counter-tariffs of 15, 25 or 50 percent to $27.6 billion in goods imported from the United States, covering 648 tariff items. Goods subject to 50 percent include steel and aluminum, furniture, and clothing and apparel. Goods at 25 percent include appliances and dairy.

Each product's rate matches the corresponding U.S. rate on the same goods. Canada drew the list from products already targeted by U.S. Section 338 and Section 232 tariffs.

If you import from the U.S., you have under two weeks to work out your exposure and act on it.

Rate
Goods included
Related guides
50%
Steel and aluminum products, which were previously subject to a 25 percent counter-tariff. Furniture. Clothing and apparel.
25%
Appliances. Dairy products including cheese. Certain steel and aluminum derivative products.
15%
Electronics and tools.
Across tiers
Agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, plastics and construction materials appear across the rate bands depending on the specific tariff item.

The sectors Canada named as the focus of the measures are steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics. Those are the industries the government says were most affected by U.S. tariffs.

Treat the table above as orientation, not as the answer for your shipment. The measures are published at the tariff item level, and two products that sound similar can fall into different rate bands.

Official schedule

The full list of affected tariff items

The tariff item number decides your rate, not the sector description. Finance Canada publishes the counter-tariffs as a schedule of tariff items to be read alongside the Schedule to Canada's Customs Tariff.

Where a product sits in a chapter that is only partly covered, the specific item governs. Chapter 72 and 73 goods, for example, are split between the 50 percent band and the 25 percent derivative band.

Timeline

Key dates

The measures were announced on August 25 and take effect on September 8, which leaves a narrow planning window.

01

August 22, 2026

U.S. tariffs of 50 percent took effect on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods.

02

August 25, 2026

Canada suspended trade negotiations and confirmed it would match the new U.S. tariffs dollar for dollar, rate for rate. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the counter-tariffs alongside a $7.5 billion support package.

03

September 8, 2026, 12:01 a.m.

Canada's counter-tariffs apply to goods imported from the U.S.

For measures announced after this page was written, see our trade and tariff news.

Exemptions

What is exempt, and what is not

Two exemptions matter for the September 8 measures, and one widely held assumption about CUSMA is wrong.

Goods in transit are exempt

Canada's countermeasures do not apply to U.S. goods already in transit to Canada on the day the measures come into force. If a shipment left the U.S. before September 8, it should not be subject to the new surtax.

You will need to provide evidence of transit status, so keep your bills of lading, carrier documentation, and export records for anything moving in the first week of September. Shipment timing over that week is worth planning deliberately rather than leaving it to chance.

The Canada Border Services Agency publishes administrative details in its customs notices, where the documentary expectations are spelled out.

A CUSMA certificate does not exempt your goods

Holding a valid CUSMA certificate of origin will not exempt your goods from counter-tariffs.
The counter-tariffs apply to U.S.-origin goods that meet Canada's country-of-origin rules for marking purposes. That is a different legal test from the CUSMA preferential origin test. A shipment can qualify for duty-free treatment under CUSMA and still be marked as a product of the U.S., which means the surtax applies.

If your team has been working under the assumption that CUSMA-qualifying goods are covered, that assumption needs to be checked against the marking rules before September 8. Our CUSMA certificate guide covers what the certificate does, and our explainer on CUSMA, USMCA, and NAFTA covers how the agreements fit together.

Existing counter-tariffs remain in place

The September 8 measures are additional. Canada's other existing counter-tariffs against the U.S., including those on autos, remain in place.

So if you already pay a counter-tariff on something you import, do not assume the new list replaces it. Check whether your goods now fall into a higher tariff band, as steel and aluminum have moved from 25 to 50 percent.

Cost impact

How the surtax is calculated

The surtax applies as a percentage of the value for duty of your goods, charged on top of any regular customs duty that already applies.

A worked example. Say you import appliances from the U.S. with a value for duty of $100,000 CAD, falling in the 25 percent band:
Value for duty
$100,000
Regular customs duty
Applied at your normal rate for the tariff item
Counter-tariff surtax at 25 percent
$25,000
GST
Calculated on the duty-paid value

Getting your declared value right matters more than usual once a 50 percent surtax is in play, because an error worth a few hundred dollars in duty becomes worth thousands. Our guide on when value affects what you ship covers where importers commonly go wrong, and our breakdown of how duties and taxes are calculated on imports into Canada walks through the full sequence.

Sales tax sits on top of all of it. If you are unclear on which applies to your imports, see the difference between GST, HST and PST.

For a full landed cost including duty, surtax and taxes, use our duty and tax calculator.
Surtax amounts flow through your CBSA accounting in the normal way, meaning they appear on your statement of account and count against your financial security. If you are close to your posted security limit, a 50 percent surtax on a regular shipment can push you over it. Our CARM hub covers how to check your position, and CARM bonds covers how to increase it.

Working out what September 8 costs you?

A BorderBuddy broker can screen your tariff items against the counter-tariff list and tell you where your real exposure sits.

Action plan

What to do before September 8

Four things, and the classification review has the shortest runway.

01

Screen your catalogue against the tariff item list

Codes assigned years ago, often by someone no longer at the company, are the usual source of unexpected exposure. Two weeks is enough to screen a catalogue and correct errors. It is not enough after an entry has been filed.

02

Check transit timing on anything already ordered

Goods in transit on September 8 are exempt. Anything you can get moving before then avoids the surtax, and anything arriving after it does not.

03

Model the cost change before you reprice

A 15 percent surtax and a 50 percent surtax are different commercial problems. Work out which of your SKUs are affected and by how much before you commit to customer pricing.

04

Assess whether relief applies

Remission, duty drawback and duty deferral each work in different circumstances, and none of them are automatic.

If you are a smaller importer without a compliance team, our customs and trade compliance services cover screening, and we offer dedicated support for small- and medium-sized importers and e-commerce importers.

FAQ

Answers to all your queries

Does Canada impose tariffs on U.S. goods?

Yes. Starting September 8, 2026, Canada applies counter-tariffs of 15, 25 or 50 percent to 648 tariff items covering $27.6 billion in imports from the United States. Each product's rate matches the U.S. rate on the equivalent goods. Earlier counter-tariffs, including those on autos, also remain in place.

Didn't Canada remove its counter-tariffs?

Canada removed most of its counter-tariffs on U.S. goods during 2025, which is why the September 8 measures catch people out. Those earlier removals do not apply here. The 648 tariff items announced on August 25, 2026, are new, and the counter-tariffs that were never removed, such as autos, have remained in place throughout.

Who pays the counter-tariff?

The Canadian importer of record pays it to CBSA at the time of accounting. The surtax is not collected from the U.S. exporter. If you are the importer of record on the entry, it is your liability, regardless of what your commercial terms with the supplier say.

What is a surtax?

A surtax is the instrument Canada uses to apply counter-tariffs. It is charged as a percentage of the goods' value for duty, on top of any regular customs duty. In everyday use, "surtax", "counter-tariff" and "retaliatory tariff" describe the same charge.

What does Canada still have tariffs on?

The 648 tariff items on the September 8 list, plus the pre-existing counter-tariffs that were never lifted, including autos. The September 8 measures focus on steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics.

Are goods already on the water exempt?

Yes, if they were in transit to Canada before the measures came into force on September 8. Keep documentation that establishes when the shipment left the United States.

Does this apply to personal shipments?

The counter-tariffs apply based on the tariff item and the origin of the goods, so personal imports are not automatically excluded. If you are bringing something in for personal use, check the code before you assume it is exempt. Our personal imports page covers how personal shipments are handled.

Is this legal or trade advice?

No. Treat it as a starting point, not a final answer. For anything tied to an actual shipment, talk to one of our trade experts.

Check your codes before September 8

Classification determines your exposure, and correcting it costs far less now than it does after an entry is filed.

Screening a code list takes a minute. Sorting out a misclassified entry after it has cleared takes considerably longer, and costs more. A BorderBuddy broker can screen your tariff items against the counter-tariff list, check whether marking rules put your goods in scope, and tell you whether remission or drawback is worth pursuing.