The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) revised Customs Notice 25-33: Steel Derivative Goods Surtax Order twice in the space of five days — first on July 17, 2026 and again on July 22, 2026. Separately, importers have flagged an apparent error in the schedule to the Order Amending the United States Surtax Remission Order (2025). Neither development changes the headline rate, but both affect how surtax is calculated and claimed, and one of them is easy to miss entirely.
What CN 25-33 does
Effective December 26, 2025, certain steel derivative goods imported into Canada for commercial purposes are subject to a surtax of 25% of the value for duty. The surtax applies on top of ordinary customs duties and taxes — on a shipment with a value for duty of $1,000, the surtax is $250, calculated separately from any duty otherwise owing. Covered goods are those listed in the Schedule to the Steel Derivative Goods Surtax Order.
Accounting: importers must declare surtax code 25267A and report the surtax amount in field 85 “Surtax” of the Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD).
Exclusions worth checking before you pay
The Order carves out a number of categories, several of which are time-limited and easy to overlook:
- Goods that were in transit to Canada before the surtax came into force;
- Casual goods, as defined in the applicable regulations;
- Goods already subject to another steel surtax order (for example the China or United States measures) — the surtaxes are not stacked;
- Goods classified under Chapter 98 of the Customs Tariff;
- Motor vehicle parts imported before July 1, 2027;
- Aircraft components imported before July 1, 2027;
- Wind tower sections destined for projects west of the Ontario–Manitoba border.
The practical problem: the updates are not marked
Practical impact: the revised notice carries a new “Ottawa, July 22, 2026” date line, but the changes themselves are not identified anywhere within the document — there is no change log, no revision marks, and no summary of what moved. An importer who read the December version, or even the July 17 version, has no way to tell from the notice alone what is now different. The Canadian Society of Customs Brokers raised exactly this point with the CBSA on behalf of members seeking confirmation of the specific amendments.
Until the CBSA publishes a change summary, the safe approach is to re-read the current notice and the Schedule in full rather than relying on a prior reading, and to re-confirm classification against the Schedule for any goods you have been treating as excluded. If your goods sit near the edge of the Schedule — particularly derivative products with mixed steel and non-steel content — a second look is warranted before the next accounting cycle.
Read Customs Notice 25-33 on the CBSA
Apparent discrepancy in the U.S. Surtax Remission Order schedule
Separately, importers have reported an apparent error at Item 38 of the schedule to the Order Amending the United States Surtax Remission Order (2025). Remission orders operate by precise item description, so a defect in a schedule entry can determine whether relief is available on a given good at all.
Practical impact: if you are claiming remission of the United States surtax under this Order, verify the item you are relying on against the published Canada Gazette text before filing, and keep a record of the version you relied on. Where an entry is ambiguous, a ruling request or written confirmation is a better footing than an assumption, because remission claimed in error is recoverable by the CBSA with interest.
Read the Department of Finance page on Canada’s response to U.S. tariffs
What this means for your imports
Surtax orders change more often than the underlying tariff, and — as CN 25-33 shows — they are not always revised in a way that makes the change visible. If you import steel derivative goods, or claim remission on U.S.-origin goods, NGB can confirm whether your products fall inside the current Schedule, check that surtax code 25267A is being applied correctly on your declarations, and review whether any of the time-limited exclusions apply to your shipments before they expire.
