If you import anything from the United States, September 8 changed your costs, and not in a small way. At 12:01 a.m. that morning, Canada’s new counter-tariffs came into force under the United States Surtax Order (2026). This is not a tweak to the steel and aluminum surtax that has been around since March 2025 (that one doubled the same day, and we have written about it separately). This is a brand-new order with its own list of goods, its own three rates, and its own set of codes, and it reaches into corners of the catalogue that had stayed out of the trade dispute until now: cheese, honey, plywood, paper, carpets, cosmetics, plastics, appliances, furniture, clothing, toys. Here is what it does, how to tell whether it touches you, and what to do about it.
Where this came from
The short version: on August 22 the United States put a 50% duty on roughly $27.6 billion of Canadian goods under section 338 of its Tariff Act of 1930, after the Canada–U.S. talks ended without a deal on August 21. Ottawa answered on August 25 with a list of American goods worth the same $27.6 billion, and set the rate on each one to match what the U.S. is charging on the corresponding Canadian product. That is why the order has three rates rather than one. A day later, after hearing from the fishing industry, Finance took seafood off the list and put copper wire and charcoal on to keep the total even. The orders in council were signed September 4, the CBSA published its guidance on September 7, and the surtax went live the next morning.
What’s actually on the list
Counting the tariff items in the order as published, the three schedules break down like this:
| Rate | Items | What you will recognise |
|---|---|---|
| 15% | 21 | Tool bits, air conditioners, forklifts and other lifting and handling equipment, farm machinery and parts, industrial moulds |
| 25% | 172 | Cheese, sawn lumber, paper and tissue, carpets, stoves and ranges, cutlery and hand tools, fridges, washers and dryers, small appliances, rail cars and rail equipment, trailers, furniture |
| 50% | 142 | Milk powder and whey, honey, molasses, prepared foods, perfume and cosmetics, plastic sheet and packaging, plywood, pulp and a long list of paper products, clothing, glass jars and bottles, copper wire, tools, refrigeration equipment, telephones and monitors, motorcycles, furniture and lamps, toys and sporting goods |
Two habits to break right away. The first is thinking in categories. The order works on eight-digit tariff items, so “furniture” is not on the list; specific items under headings 94.01 and 94.03 are, some at 25% and some at 50%. Run your actual classifications against the schedules, not your product descriptions. The second is assuming your sector is safe because it was safe in 2025. This list was built from the U.S. Section 338 and Section 232 target lists, which is a different logic from the 2025 rounds, and it picks up goods that have never carried a surtax before.
The question that decides everything: where was it made?
The surtax applies only to goods that originate in the United States, and origin here means the CUSMA marking rules: is the good one that would have to be marked “Made in USA”? It does not matter where it shipped from. A German pump bought through a U.S. distributor and trucked up from Ohio is not a U.S. good and pays nothing under this order. A U.S.-made pump routed through a warehouse in Mexico still pays. The flip side is that the CBSA will expect you to prove origin either way, so a supplier’s invoice that just says “USA” in the ship-from box is not the evidence you want. If a meaningful share of your U.S. purchases are really goods of other origins, a proper origin analysis could take a lot of your volume out of scope, and that is worth a few hours of work.
A few things people hope are exceptions but are not. Personal and casual imports are subject. Courier and postal shipments below the de minimis thresholds are subject; the low-value programs remit duty and tax, not surtax. And GST is calculated on the value including the surtax, so a $150 part at the 50% rate costs $150 plus $75 surtax plus $11.25 GST before it reaches you.
What is genuinely exempt
Goods in transit to Canada on September 8, meaning bound for Canada and in a carrier’s hands but not yet arrived, are outside the surtax, provided you can show a bill of lading, cargo control document or similar dated before the change. Goods entered under a Chapter 98 or 99 tariff item are outside it unless that item is one of the fourteen listed in Schedule 4. U.S.-made goods coming back to Canada after having been duty-paid here before, goods going across the border for repair and back, a non-resident’s own baggage and vehicle, ships’ stores, residents of Campobello Island on a day trip, and goods imported under an Import for Re-Export Program permit are all excluded. And the new order is not stacked on top of the steel-derivative surtax: where both would apply, only this one does.
Paperwork: three codes and one field
On the Commercial Accounting Declaration you declare the surtax with code 26186A for the 15% goods, 26186B for 25% and 26186C for 50%, with the dollar amount in field 85. If you self-declare in the CARM portal, you calculate the amount yourself. Goods that qualify for an exception are declared as not subject, which is a positive statement you should be ready to back up. If something was filed wrong in the first few days (the codes were published the evening before the surtax started, so this will happen), the fix is a correction before the payment due date or an adjustment after it, not a quiet hope that nobody notices. Worth knowing: the surtax itself cannot be appealed, but the CBSA’s determinations of origin, tariff classification and value for duty can be, within 90 days, and those three determinations are exactly what decide whether and at what rate the surtax applies. Advance rulings on classification and origin are available for the same reason.
Relief, in rough order of usefulness
Start with the money that is already on the table. The government paired the counter-tariffs with a $7.5 billion support package: a $1.5 billion Regional Tariff Response Initiative for small and medium-sized businesses through the regional development agencies, a $500 million liquidity stream under BDC’s Pivot to Grow program with the revenue threshold lowered to $1 million, $2 billion for capital projects through the Canada Strong Diversification Fund, and $3.5 billion in worker supports including extended EI flexibilities and a retention and retraining program. If the surtax bites your cash flow this month, those move faster than anything below.
Next, remission. The order amends the standing United States Surtax Remission Order (2025) so that its categories now cover the 2026 surtax: goods for health care, public health, public safety, national defence and security; and goods imported for use in manufacturing, processing, agricultural production, or food and beverage packaging. Read the conditions before you rely on a category, because several carry import-by dates. For everything else, the Department of Finance takes case-by-case remission requests on two grounds: you cannot source the input in Canada or from a non-U.S. supplier, or you face exceptional and compelling circumstances. The request goes by email with your tariff classifications, import volumes and values, evidence of your sourcing efforts and a cost and competitive-impact analysis. It is a real process with a real backlog, so file early and file well.
Finally, duty drawback and the Duties Relief Program still work for surtax on goods you later export, subject to the CUSMA rules, and the CBSA’s notice confirms that for U.S.- and Mexican-origin goods the “lesser of two duties” limit does not apply, so full relief is possible where the criteria are met.
What to do this week
Pull your U.S. purchases by tariff item and mark each one 15, 25, 50 or clear. Check origin on anything bought through a U.S. distributor. Gather in-transit proof for whatever crossed the September 8 line. Confirm your broker has the 26186 codes set up and knows which of your goods are exempt and why. Reprice against Canadian, Mexican and offshore alternatives, remembering that some of those alternatives carry their own anti-dumping or safeguard duties. And if your steel or aluminum exposure is the bigger number, read our companion piece on the steel and aluminum surtax, which doubled to 50% the same morning under a separate order.
This will not be the last change. Section 338 lets the U.S. adjust its measures at will, and Canada’s order can be amended by the same route that created it. We will keep the trade news feed current as the schedules move.
Customs Notice 26-23: United States Surtax Order (2026) · United States Surtax Order (2026), P.C. 2026-0785 · Finance Canada: list of products subject to counter-tariffs · Finance Canada: requesting remission
NoGlobalBorders can run your classifications against the schedules, review origin on your U.S. purchases and prepare remission requests. Contact us if you would like help.
