Canada's New Surtaxes Start September 8: What CUSMA Covers, and How Remission Works

Canada's counter-tariffs take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8: surtaxes of 15%, 25% and 50% on roughly $27.6 billion in U.S.-origin goods, each rate matched to the corresponding U.S. Section 232 or Section 338 rate. Steel, aluminum, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, plastics and electronics are all on the list somewhere.

Two questions have dominated our inbox since the list came out: does CUSMA get me out of this? and what about remission? Short answers: no, and not yet.

CUSMA/USMCA helps with your duty, not the surtax

CUSMA reduces or eliminates the ordinary customs duty — the "MFN rate". It does nothing to the surtax, which sits on top at the full published rate. A good that enters duty-free under CUSMA and is listed for surtax at 25% will pay 25% - regardless of CUSMA status.

Remission, in plain terms

Remission is the government agreeing to waive or refund a duty you legally owe. It doesn't change the tariff — the surtax still applies to your goods. It's a separate instrument, made by Order in Council under section 115 of the Customs Tariff, that relieves you of paying it.

Ottawa considers requests where inputs can't be sourced domestically or reasonably from non-U.S. suppliers, or where exceptional circumstances would severely harm the Canadian economy. The bar is high by design.

When it actually gets granted

The legal test is one thing; the record since the surtaxes began is more useful.

• Genuine short supply — no Canadian or non-U.S. source, with evidence you looked. "Nobody else makes it" is an assertion; declined quotes are evidence.
• Public health, health care, public safety and national security — hospitals, clinics, labs, ambulance and fire, law enforcement, DND. The most reliably relieved category.
• Manufacturing and processing inputs, by end use — goods used in manufacturing, processing, food and beverage packaging and agricultural production, tied to the importer's sector (NAICS 11, 31–33).
• Named strategic sectors — steel for motor vehicle and aerospace manufacturing; aluminum for manufacturing, packaging and agriculture.
• Company-specific relief — by business number, for named goods, off a well-documented file.

The throughline is production, not consumption: relief flows to inputs that keep Canadian plants, farms and hospitals running, not to finished goods imported for resale. And it's typically transition timeboxed, and not a permanent exemption — hence the sunset dates.

The process

Requests go to Finance Canada at remissions-remises@fin.gc.ca, subject line "U.S. Remission"; only Canadian-registered companies can apply. Finance's template asks for a file, not a letter — tariff items, volumes and values, unit costs, employment effects, named competitors, and above all evidence of failed sourcing attempts.

Four things importers keep getting wrong

1. It's an application process, per company — no registry, no industry filing.
2. The outcome can be narrow or broad. An Order can name one applicant, or cover any importer meeting defined product, end-use or industry conditions.
3. Don't wait on a competitor's application. Until an applicable Order is issued, assume the surtax is payable and file your own request.
4. Retroactivity depends on the wording. Relief can reach duties already paid — only if the Order says so.

Where the September 8 measures stand

No Order covering these counter-tariffs has been published yet.

Finance Canada has signalled it intends to extend relief under the existing United States Surtax Remission Order (2025), subject to Governor in Council approval. If so, existing product- and company-specific remissions carry over on their current terms, and the horizontal categories cover goods imported before July 1, 2027. Nothing is in force until the Order is published. Expect a CBSA customs notice with the administrative detail (hopefully before Sept-8, but unlikely); we'll update as soon as it lands.

What to do before September 8

1. Confirm your classifications. Everything downstream depends on the classification number being right, and a surtax list is an unforgiving place to find a long-standing error. Talk to your broker; our Tariff Impact Checker helps you work through your codes, but it's a screening aid, not customs advice.
2. Check whether your codes are on the list. The checker flags the rate and effective date, and shows a CUSMA/USMCA toggle where the agreement is available for that HS code. Or read Finance Canada's product list — watch for the 15/25/50 split inside the same chapter.
3. If CUSMA is available and you're not using it, get certified. It won't spare you the surtax, but it removes the duty underneath — and plenty of importers pay MFN on qualifying goods simply because nobody collected the certification: get certified.
4. Watch the remission file, and start your paperwork. When an Order appears it will define which goods and end uses qualify. The evidence takes weeks, not days: canvass alternative suppliers and keep the replies, pull your volumes and values, build the unit costs.

Until then: classify accurately, pay the surtax, and keep the records you'd need to claim it back.

Chart is illustrative: $100,000 shipment of a listed U.S.-origin good, 6.5% MFN duty, 25% surtax. This article is general information, not customs advice.