On August 16, 2020, the U.S. government imposed a 10% tariff on aluminum that originates in Canada.

Not to be outdone, on September 16, 2020, the Canadian government will impose a 10% retaliatory tariff on certain products from the United States. For Canada, it is not just aluminum but finished appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers and golf clubs, of which, the value of these retaliatory tariffs is approximately 2.7 billion Canadian dollars.

If you remember, there were similar measures taken in 2018 for essentially the same reasons. The Canadian government collected about $1.3 billion from those 2018 'surtaxes,' which are paid by Canadian businesses at time of importation. Similarly, the increase in consumer costs in the United States was upwards of $582 million USD per year.

During the last round, Tradewin helped importers recover surtax that was paid on incorrect HS classifications of their products. We also recovered surtaxes on remission orders that the government issued to help businesses cope.

What can you do?

• Pay attention to your own import classifications to make sure your company isn’t paying tariffs that aren’t required. It just makes good sense to keep an eye on them anyway. That’s another blog.
• Keep an ear to the ground on changes. There may be remission orders coming.
• Ask for help. Tradewin has been through this before.

Here is the complete list of Canadian items and their corresponding Harmonized System (HS) classifications.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us.