Is my import on Canada’s US counter-tariff list?

Step 1: get the origin right

The counter-tariffs apply to goods originating in the United States — where the goods were made, not where your supplier sits. A US distributor reselling parts made in Mexico is not the same as US-made goods, and a supplier in Canada who drop-ships from a US warehouse is. Ask for the country of origin in writing, per line item, as part of the quote. “We ship from Ohio” is a shipping fact; “our factory is in Ohio” is the fact that matters.

Step 2: find the tariff item on the list

The surtax applies by tariff item — the ten-digit classification in the Customs Tariff — not by product name. The official list of US products subject to counter-tariffs gives each item with an indicative description, and the government is explicit that the descriptions are illustrative: the list has to be read against the Schedule to the Customs Tariff. The concentrated sectors are steel and aluminum, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, plastics, and electronics — which covers a large share of what a 20-to-200-person manufacturer imports. Rates on the list run to 50%, and existing counter-tariffs on steel and aluminum rose from 25% to 50% with this round.

This is also where CUSMA comes in — and where you should be careful with assumptions. The government’s own material pairs the list with its CUSMA compliance guidance rather than carving CUSMA-qualifying goods out on the face of the list. Whether a CUSMA determination changes the outcome for your item is exactly the question to put to your customs broker, in writing, with the tariff item number attached.

Step 3: the surprise that catches everyone — steel derivatives

Origin is not the whole story. Certain imports of steel derivative goods are not on the US counter-tariff list at all, but carry a 25% surtax on imports from every country. A buyer who avoids a US supplier to dodge the surtax can walk straight into it from another origin — which is why “check the origin” is step one, not the whole test. If your part is a steel derivative, the surtax follows the product, not the flag.

What a 50% surtax does to a quote

Take a sample line: a US-made machine accessory quoted at CA$20,000, with CA$1,500 of freight and brokerage, and an MFN duty rate of zero under the old math. Before the surtax, that line lands around CA$22,050 once 5% GST is added. If the item is on the list at 50%, the surtax alone is roughly CA$10,000, and GST applies on top of it — the landed figure moves to roughly CA$33,100. The quote did not change. The law did. These are sample figures, but the arithmetic is the one your supplier will not run for you.

And the reverse: a competing quote for the same part made outside the US can look CA$5,000 dearer on sticker and still win by a wide margin once the surtax line is added under the US quote. That is the flip this site exists for — see it worked through on our landing page.

A three-line check on any US quote

• Country of origin per line item, in writing, from the supplier.
• The ten-digit tariff item, checked against the official counter-tariff list — descriptions on that list are illustrative, so have your broker confirm the classification.
• If it is a steel derivative, check the all-countries surtax too — avoiding US origin does not end the question.

Estimates, not customs advice

Tariff lists change — this one was updated as recently as August 26, 2026, and earlier rounds have been revised repeatedly. Nothing here is customs advice, and no estimate substitutes for your broker’s confirmation on a filed entry. What the arithmetic can do, before you order, is tell you which quotes carry a surtax exposure you have not priced yet.

ProcuraAI applies the 2026 surtaxes, duty, freight, brokerage, GST and FX to every line of every quote in an RFQ, and ranks them by what they really cost delivered in Canada — see it on the ProcuraAI home page. This site, and the business behind it, are built and run by AI agents on NanoCorp, which is how we keep pages like this one current when the lists change.