Quick answer:
Effective 12:01 a.m. on September 8, 2026, Canada applies counter-tariffs of 15, 25, and 50 percent to about 700 tariff lines of US-origin goods, covering roughly 27.6 billion dollars of trade. The tariffs apply only to products that qualify as US-originating under CUSMA marking rules, goods already in transit are exempt with documentation, and the existing remission framework still offers relief for products not reasonably available from another source. Any Canadian retailer, wholesaler, or manufacturer buying steel, appliances, dairy, furniture, apparel, tools, HVAC equipment, forklifts, or agricultural equipment from a US supplier needs to check exposure now, two days before the rate change lands.
Canada's counter-tariffs on US goods take effect September 8, 2026, and this time the pressure lands on the import side of the ledger, not the export side most Canadian ecommerce coverage has focused on this year. Every guide about tariffs and Canadian ecommerce in 2026 has been about selling into the US: the loss of de minimis, CUSMA rules of origin for outbound shipments, and funding to offset US-side costs. This is the other half of the story. If your business buys steel, appliances, dairy, furniture, tools, or equipment from a US supplier to stock a store or feed production, the cost of doing that just changed, and it changed on a two-week notice.
This guide covers exactly what is on the new list, the CUSMA rule that determines whether a given product actually falls under it, what relief exists, and the practical steps a Canadian manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer should take before and after the September 8 deadline.
01. The Quick Answer: What Changed and When
On August 25, 2026, Canada's Department of Finance announced a new round of counter-tariffs on US-origin goods, covering roughly 700 tariff lines and about 27.6 billion dollars of imports. The rates fall into three bands, 15, 25, and 50 percent, and they take effect at 12:01 a.m. on September 8, 2026. This is Canada's direct response to the United States' 50 percent Section 338 tariff on Canadian goods, a measure we covered when it first landed.
Why it matters: this is a fast-moving policy with a firm start date, not a proposal still working through consultation. A business importing from the US needs an answer this week, not a general awareness that tariffs exist.
02. At-a-Glance: The Three Tariff Bands
| Rate | Products affected | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 50% | Steel and aluminum products (up from 25%), furniture, clothing and apparel | Doubled rate for steel and aluminum previously on the 2025 list |
| 25% | Appliances, dairy products including cheese, fish and seafood, certain steel and aluminum derivatives | New band as of September 8, 2026 |
| 15% | Tools, HVAC equipment, forklifts, agricultural equipment | New band as of September 8, 2026 |
Why it matters: the bands are not evenly distributed. A furniture retailer or a manufacturer buying US steel is looking at a 50 percent cost increase on that input, while a business buying US agricultural equipment faces 15 percent. Blanket assumptions about tariff impact across a product catalog will be wrong in both directions.
03. Why Canada Is Doing This: The Section 338 Response
This round of counter-tariffs is Canada's direct answer to the United States' Section 338 tariff, a 50 percent duty on a wide range of Canadian goods entering the US that CUSMA does not shield against. Where that earlier guide covered what Canadian exporters face selling into the US, this list is the mirror image: Ottawa matching the pressure on goods coming the other way.
Existing counter-tariffs from the 2025 round, including those on certain automobiles and some steel and aluminum products, remain in effect separately. This new list adds to that base rather than replacing it, and the steel and aluminum band specifically doubles from the earlier 25 percent rate to 50 percent.
Why it matters: if your business already adjusted sourcing after the 2025 counter-tariffs, do not assume that work is done. The September 2026 list widens the net and raises the rate on categories some businesses had already priced around.
04. The CUSMA Marking Rule That Decides Your Exposure
The new tariffs apply only to goods that qualify as US-originating under the Determination of Country of Origin for the Purpose of Marking Goods regulations under CUSMA. This is a specific legal test, not a simple "where did I buy it" question. A product assembled in the US from components sourced elsewhere may or may not meet the marking threshold as US origin, and getting that determination wrong in either direction creates real cost exposure.
Goods that do not qualify as US-originating under the marking rules can still face other duties, including the regular Most Favoured Nation tariff, so a product falling outside this specific countermeasure is not automatically duty-free. The practical implication is that every affected SKU needs an actual country-of-origin marking determination, ideally confirmed with a customs broker, rather than an assumption based on the supplier's invoice address.
Why it matters: two businesses buying what looks like the same product from two different US suppliers can land on opposite sides of this rule, and the difference shows up directly in landed cost.
05. Goods In Transit and the Remission Framework
Goods already in transit to Canada when the countermeasures take effect on September 8, 2026 are exempt, provided the importer keeps documentation showing the shipment was underway before that date. An order placed earlier but not yet shipped does not qualify for the exemption; the test is transit status, not order date.
Beyond that, Canada's existing tariff remission framework, including the US Surtax Remission Order, continues to apply to the new measures. Remission is available where the affected goods are not reasonably available from a Canadian or other non-US source, or where other exceptional circumstances apply, and it is assessed product by product and company by company. A product already approved for remission against the earlier 25 percent steel and aluminum rate generally carries that relief forward against the new 50 percent rate, rather than needing to reapply from zero.
Why it matters: remission claims filed after the fact can take months to resolve and tie up working capital in the meantime. Building the claim into the customs entry at the time of import, with a broker who has handled a remission request before, is worth far more than filing a stronger claim later.
06. What This Actually Costs Retailers, Wholesalers, and Manufacturers
A Bank of Canada study of the 2025 round of counter-tariffs found that tariffed items saw an average price increase of roughly 6 percent compared to non-tariffed goods, adding about 0.3 percentage points to overall inflation, and that only about a quarter of the tariff cost was actually passed through to retail prices. In practice this means most of the cost was absorbed somewhere in the supply chain, whether by the importer's margin, the manufacturer's margin, or a shift to a different supplier, rather than showing up dollar for dollar on the shelf.
Whether a specific product ends up with a price increase, a margin hit, or a supplier switch depends on three things: the size of the tariff band it falls in, the margin the business was already running on that product, and whether a Canadian or non-US alternative exists. A furniture or appliance line with a readily available domestic substitute is more likely to see sourcing shift than price increase. A specialized steel input with no practical Canadian alternative is more likely to see the cost passed straight through.
Why it matters: a single company-wide price increase applied across every US-sourced product is very likely the wrong call for at least some of that catalog. This is a per-product decision, not a policy.
07. Updating Your Shopify and HubSpot Pricing Workflows
For a Shopify wholesale or B2B storefront, an unannounced landed-cost change is the kind of thing that quietly erodes margin one order at a time until someone notices a quarter later. The fix is the same discipline already worth applying to cost-plus pricing rules on any imported line: flag the SKUs affected by the new tariff bands, update cost data with the new landed cost, and confirm that customer-facing price lists and quantity-break pricing reflect the change before the next order ships, not after.
On the HubSpot side, this is a good use for a workflow that flags open deals and pending quotes tied to affected products so a sales rep does not send a wholesale account a quote priced at the old cost. For accounts with standing purchase agreements or negotiated pricing, a proactive account-management touch before a customer notices the change on an invoice protects the relationship better than a surprise line item.
Why it matters: the tariff itself is outside your control. Whether your pricing systems catch up to it in days or in a full sales cycle is entirely within your control, and the gap between the two is where margin actually gets lost.
08. A Practical Response Plan
Map every US-sourced SKU and input.
List every product, component, or piece of equipment currently bought from a US supplier, then flag which ones fall inside the roughly 700 affected tariff lines.
Confirm CUSMA marking status before assuming exposure.
A product only falls under this countermeasure if it qualifies as US-originating under the CUSMA marking rules. Check with your customs broker rather than guessing from the supplier's address.
Decide product by product: absorb, pass through, or re-source.
A 15 percent tool tariff and a 50 percent furniture tariff do not deserve the same response. Model the margin impact per product line before setting a single blanket policy.
File for remission at time of entry where it applies.
If a product is not reasonably available from a Canadian or non-US source, build the remission claim into the customs entry itself rather than filing a retroactive claim that can take months to resolve.
Update landed cost and customer-facing pricing.
For a Shopify wholesale or B2B storefront, that means refreshing cost-plus pricing rules and customer price lists. For HubSpot, it means a deal-stage or workflow trigger that flags affected accounts before a quote goes out at an outdated price.
Two days is not enough runway to redesign a supply chain.
Treat the first response as triage: identify exposure, confirm CUSMA status, and get remission-eligible products flagged before September 8. Sourcing changes and longer-term supplier diversification are the second phase, not something to force through in the days before the deadline.
Why it matters: sequencing this correctly, triage first, structural change second, is what keeps a two-week notice from turning into a scramble that damages a customer relationship or a margin line unnecessarily.
09. How AtlanticWorks Helps
AtlanticWorks helps Canadian manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers keep their Shopify and HubSpot systems accurate when landed costs change fast: updated cost-plus pricing rules and B2B price lists on Shopify, deal and quote workflows in HubSpot that catch affected accounts before a stale price goes out, and AI-driven demand forecasting for businesses evaluating a shift away from US suppliers. As a certified Shopify, HubSpot, Google, and Salesforce partner based in Fredericton, we do not file customs remission claims or give legal or tax advice, we build the commerce systems that keep pricing correct once the compliance side is settled. It starts with a free assessment.
10. Key Takeaways
- Canada's counter-tariffs of 15, 25, and 50 percent on about 700 tariff lines of US goods, roughly 27.6 billion dollars of trade, take effect September 8, 2026 at 12:01 a.m.
- The 50 percent band covers steel and aluminum, furniture, clothing and apparel. The 25 percent band covers appliances, dairy, and seafood. The 15 percent band covers tools, HVAC equipment, forklifts, and agricultural equipment.
- The tariffs apply only to goods that meet the CUSMA marking rules as US origin, so confirming that status is the first step, not an afterthought.
- Goods already in transit before September 8 are exempt with documentation, and the existing US Surtax Remission Order framework still applies for exceptional relief.
- The retail price impact of the 2025 round was uneven, about a quarter of the tariff cost passed through on average, so a per-product margin review beats a blanket price increase.
11. Frequently Asked Questions
What are Canada's new counter-tariffs and when do they take effect?
On August 25, 2026, Canada's Department of Finance announced counter-tariffs of 15, 25, and 50 percent on roughly 700 tariff lines of US-origin goods, covering about 27.6 billion dollars of imports. The measures take effect at 12:01 a.m. on September 8, 2026, and were announced as Canada's response to the United States' 50 percent Section 338 tariff on Canadian goods.
Which products are affected by Canada's September 2026 counter-tariffs?
The 50 percent band covers steel and aluminum products that had previously carried a 25 percent counter-tariff, along with furniture and clothing and apparel. The 25 percent band covers appliances, dairy products such as cheese, fish and seafood, and certain steel and aluminum derivative products. The 15 percent band covers tools, HVAC equipment, forklifts, and agricultural equipment. Existing counter-tariffs on other goods, including certain automobiles, remain in effect separately from this new list.
Do these counter-tariffs apply to every US-made product entering Canada?
No. The new tariffs apply only to goods that qualify as US-originating under the Determination of Country of Origin for the Purpose of Marking Goods regulations under CUSMA. A product that does not meet those marking rules as US origin, for example one assembled from third-country components, may not fall under this specific countermeasure, though it can still face other duties. Confirming country-of-origin marking status is the first thing an importer should check, not an assumption to make after the fact.
Can a Canadian business get relief from the new counter-tariffs?
Canada's existing tariff remission framework, including the US Surtax Remission Order, continues to apply to the new measures. Businesses can apply for remission where the goods are not reasonably available from a Canadian or non-US source, or where other exceptional circumstances apply, and a product already approved for remission of an earlier 25 percent tariff generally carries that relief forward against the new 50 percent rate. Remission is assessed case by case and is strongest when the claim is built into the customs entry at the time of import rather than filed after the fact.
Are goods already shipped from the US before September 8 affected?
Goods that are already in transit to Canada when the countermeasures take effect on September 8, 2026 are exempt, provided the importer keeps documentation showing the shipment was underway before that date. Anything entering Canada afterward is subject to the applicable rate regardless of when the purchase order was placed.
Will these tariffs raise retail prices in Canada?
Some, but not uniformly. A Bank of Canada study of the 2025 round of counter-tariffs found tariffed items saw an average price increase of roughly 6 percent compared to non-tariffed goods, adding about 0.3 percentage points to overall inflation, and only about a quarter of that tariff cost was passed through to retail prices. Whether a specific product's price moves depends on the retailer's margin, how easily a non-US supplier can be substituted, and how much of the category is genuinely tariff-exposed.
How should a Canadian retailer or manufacturer respond to the new tariffs?
Start by identifying every SKU or input sourced from a US supplier and checking it against the three tariff bands and the CUSMA marking rule. From there, decide product by product whether to absorb the cost, pass it through in pricing, pursue remission, or shift sourcing to a Canadian or non-US supplier where one exists. This is the same landed-cost and supplier-diversification exercise Canadian sellers have already been running on the export side since the loss of US de minimis treatment, just applied to the import side of the ledger.
Related Resources
The US tariff on Canadian goods that this countermeasure responds to
The export-side tariff and de minimis picture for Canadian sellers
Non-repayable funding for Atlantic Canada businesses affected by tariffs
Keeping landed cost and inventory data accurate across systems
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