Canada's counter-tariffs are back: 15%, 25% and 50% on 335 US tariff items from September 8
Canada brought the United States Surtax Order (2026) into force at 12:01 a.m. on September 8, 2026, putting a 15%, 25% or 50% surtax on 335 tariff items of US-origin goods — machinery, dairy, carpets, hand tools, apparel, furniture, wood and paper among them. The rate on each item is set to mirror the US Section 338 rate on the equivalent Canadian good. Goods already in transit to Canada on September 8 are not caught.
What happened
On September 4, 2026 the Governor in Council made the United States Surtax Order (2026) (P.C. 2026-0785) under sections 53(2), 79(a) and 115 of the Customs Tariff. It came into force at 12:01 a.m. on September 8 (s.10). CBSA published Customs Notice 26-23 the day before it took effect. The Order is Canada's answer to the United States' Section 338 tariffs, and CBSA is explicit that the goods targeted are drawn from those the US hit, with the surtax on each product generally corresponding to the US rate on the equivalent good (CN 26-23 ¶2).
Who pays, and who doesn't
The surtax applies only to goods that originate in the United States, meaning goods eligible to be marked as US goods under the Determination of Country of Origin for the Purpose of Marking Goods (CUSMA Countries) Regulations (s.1(2)). Two consequences importers get wrong in both directions: goods marked as originating in Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa or the US Virgin Islands are not caught (CN ¶5), and US-origin goods shipped to Canada from a third country still are (CN ¶6). It reaches commercial and casual importations alike, including shipments below de minimis and goods otherwise relieved under the Postal Imports or Courier Imports Remission Orders (CN ¶9).
The exceptions worth knowing
Goods in transit to Canada on September 8 — bound for Canada, not yet arrived, under a carrier's control — are not subject to the surtax (s.2(b)). If you paid it on such a shipment anyway, keep the bill of lading, report of entry and cargo control documents: CBSA names those as the proof, and an officer can ask for them at any time (CN ¶19). Goods classified under Chapter 98 or 99 are exempt unless the item is one of the fourteen listed in Schedule 4, and that exemption holds even where the good would otherwise fall in Schedule 1, 2 or 3 (s.2(a), CN ¶7). There are also narrow carve-outs for Campobello Island residents returning within 24 hours (s.2(c)) and for goods under an Import for Re-Export Program permit (s.2(d)). One stacking rule matters: where a good would be caught by both this Order and the Steel Derivative Goods Surtax Order, only this Order applies (s.9, CN ¶8).
How it is declared — and how a mistake gets refunded
Surtax goes in field 85 of the Commercial Accounting Declaration, with the surtax code that matches the schedule: 26186A for the 15% items, 26186B for 25%, 26186C for 50% (CN ¶¶24-25). Note that GST is calculated on a value that includes the surtax, so the cash impact is slightly larger than the headline rate (CN ¶17). If surtax was self-assessed in error — wrong origin, a good that was actually in transit, a Chapter 98 classification — the fix is an adjustment or correction to the CAD through the CARM Client Portal or EDI, under Memoranda D17-2-1 and D6-2-3 (CN ¶¶31-32). Duties Relief and Duty Drawback are also available for surtax paid (CN ¶11).
Remission: the relief that already exists
The Order does more than impose a surtax — sections 3 through 8 quietly rewrite the United States Surtax Remission Order (2025) so its existing grounds now cover surtaxes paid under this Order too. That means relief is already on the books for goods imported for public health, public safety and national security use (s.1 of SOR/2025-122), for medically necessary health care (s.2), and — much the broadest — for goods used in Canada in the manufacture or processing of any good, the production of any agricultural product, or the packaging of a food product or beverage (s.3). The short-supply schedules carry over as well. Every one of these is an end-use test rather than a code match, so the code alone never settles it; and a remission claim must reach the Minister within two years of the date of importation (s.5(c)).
What to do this week
Three things are worth an hour. Check whether any tariff item you import from the US is on the list below — the 15% schedule is almost entirely machinery, so an importer who thinks of themselves as unaffected by a dairy-and-apparel tariff may not be. Second, if you had goods on the water on September 8, pull the transit documents now while they are easy to find, because that exception is worth the full surtax and is proved by paperwork you already have. Third, if the goods you import feed a manufacturing, processing, agricultural or food-packaging operation, read section 3 of the remission order carefully — that ground is broad, it has no import deadline on its face for goods caught by this Order, and it is the one most likely to be left unclaimed.