Canada Just Published Its Tariff List: 50%, 25% and 15% on $27.6B of U.S. Goods Sept. 8
Ottawa released the product-level counter-tariff schedule — 700+ lines across three rate tiers, effective 12:01 a.m. September 8, 2026.
When Prime Minister Mark Carney announced dollar-for-dollar retaliation on August 22, U.S. exporters got six sector names and a date. They now have the actual schedule. Ottawa has published a product-level counter-tariff list covering more than 700 tariff lines and roughly $27.6 billion in imports from the United States, split across three rate tiers — 50%, 25% and 15% — effective 12:01 a.m. on September 8, 2026.
That is thirteen days out, and the list is considerably broader than “steel, dairy and appliances.”
Canada’s counter-tariffs take effect September 8, 2026, at three rates. Steel, aluminum, wood pulp and paper, plastics, textiles, telecom equipment and concentrated dairy products face 50%. Cheese, seafood, lumber, and most major appliances face 25%. Tools, HVAC equipment, forklifts and agricultural equipment face 15%. The schedule covers 700-plus tariff lines and about $27.6 billion in U.S. goods.
The rate tiers
Rate
Product categories
50%
Steel products (ingots, flat-rolled, bars, wire), aluminum products, wood pulp and paper products, plywood, plastics, clothing and textiles, hand tools, telecommunications equipment, beauty and personal care products, concentrated milk products, whey, fish meal, honey, molasses
25%
Cheese, live fish, crustaceans and molluscs, fresh and frozen fish, lumber, kraft paper, toilet paper, carpets, refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, stoves, radiators, kitchenware, electrical wire, locomotives and railway parts
15%
Hand and machine tools, air conditioning machinery, forklifts, lifting machinery, agricultural equipment, molds
Rates and categories per the Global News breakdown of the published Department of Finance list.
What happened
The counter-tariffs answer the 50% Section 338 duties the United States imposed on roughly $20 billion of Canadian dairy, alcoholic beverages and motor vehicles on August 22, after negotiations collapsed. Carney said Canada would match Washington “dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses,” per Al Jazeera.
He attributed the breakdown to U.S. negotiators introducing “new terms that were uneconomic, unfair and undermined the net benefits for Canada.”
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has said no new talks are scheduled and that Washington is “moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation” — meaning further escalation is on the table, not off it.
Ottawa has also signaled domestic industry support measures, and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly framed the response in explicitly substitution-driven terms: “we cannot control the decisions made in Washington, but we can control what we build here at home.”
Why it matters
Two things changed with the publication of the list.
First, the scope is much wider than the announced sectors. “Steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, electronics” reads like six industries. The actual schedule reaches toilet paper, carpets, kitchenware, molds, beauty products, honey and clothing. A U.S. business that screened itself out on the sector headline may well be on the list.
Second, the rate tier is now knowable, and the tiers are far apart. The difference between 15% and 50% is the difference between absorbing a hit and losing the account. Until this week there was no way to price the exposure. There is now.
Note the asymmetry in the framing: Canada’s package covers $27.6 billion in imports against the roughly $20 billion in Canadian exports hit by Section 338. And as on the U.S. side — where USMCA origin does not exempt covered goods — the practical lesson for exporters runs in both directions: check the tariff line, not the trade agreement.
What this means for your business
If you sell into Canada, do this before September 8:
Screen by HS code, not by product description. The tiers are assigned at the tariff-line level. “Paper products” spans both the 50% and 25% bands depending on the line. Get your codes from your customs broker or commercial invoices, not from your catalog.
Calculate the delta per Canadian customer, at the actual rate. A 15% line and a 50% line are entirely different conversations. Run the landed cost your customer will face on September 8 and compare it to what a Canadian or non-U.S. supplier would charge.
Expect a pull-forward, then a hole. Some Canadian customers will accelerate orders into the next thirteen days to beat the effective date. That is a September revenue spike followed by an October gap — a cash-flow timing event, not growth. Put both in your forecast now so you do not misread the September number.
Have the pricing conversation this week, not after the first tariffed invoice. Decide in advance who absorbs what, and get it in writing. Silence defaults to your customer discovering the increase on their own.
Revisit contracts with fixed delivered pricing. A delivered-duty-paid term means the tariff lands on you, not your customer. Check your Incoterms on every open Canadian order.
If you import from Canada, the August 22 Section 338 duties still apply, USMCA origin still does not exempt covered goods, and drawback remains available on re-exports. Both dates now sit on your books: August 22 for cost of goods, September 8 for revenue.
For your bookkeeping: set up separate general-ledger accounts for tariff duties rather than burying them in cost of goods or freight. When this unwinds — or escalates again — you will need to see the number in isolation to reprice, to claim drawback, and to make the case for it in any customer negotiation.
“Canada will match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses.” — Prime Minister Mark Carney
Frequently asked questions
When exactly do Canada’s counter-tariffs take effect? 12:01 a.m. on September 8, 2026.
How much U.S. trade is covered? Roughly $27.6 billion in imports from the United States, across more than 700 tariff lines.
What gets the highest rate? The 50% tier covers steel and aluminum products, wood pulp and paper, plastics, textiles and clothing, hand tools, telecommunications equipment, and concentrated dairy products such as whey and condensed milk.
Does USMCA exempt my goods? Do not assume so. On the U.S. Section 338 side, USMCA origin explicitly does not exempt covered goods. Verify at the tariff-line level in both directions rather than relying on the agreement.
Are more U.S. tariffs coming? USTR Jamieson Greer has said Washington is moving forward with measures responding to Canadian retaliation and that no new talks are scheduled. Treat further escalation as a live possibility when you plan.
The bottom line
The framework became a schedule, and the schedule is broader than the headline sectors suggested. Thirteen days is enough time to screen your codes, price the delta and talk to your customers — and not enough time to do it after the fact. Pull your Canadian revenue by HS code this week. Then carry the duty delta straight into your cash flow forecast: the September 8 date lands on your outflows well before repricing catches up on the revenue side.
