US widens 50% tariffs on Canadian imports

A new round of 50 per cent US tariffs on Canadian goods took effect early Tuesday, adding the levy to 110 tariff items while removing 10 others from the list.

The changes, effective from 12.01am Eastern Time on September 15, cover products including selected cheeses, motorboats, all-terrain vehicles, furniture, mattresses, lamps, aluminium products, paper goods and iron or steel structures. They form part of a package of measures signed by President Donald Trump on September 8 after Canada activated retaliatory tariffs on US goods.

The White House said the revisions were designed to “offset the burden to US commerce while better serving the public interest”. Products removed from the 50 per cent tariff list include rock salt, Portland cement, chemically pure sugars, tissue and towel stock, paper bed sheets, refined lead, low-voltage switchgear and fishing-rod parts.

The simultaneous additions and removals leave the overall value of trade affected by the latest adjustment broadly unchanged. RBC Economics estimated that US imports in 2025 of the 10 product codes removed from the tariff list were worth about US$1.73 billion, compared with roughly US$1.85 billion for the 110 codes added.

That balance suggests the administration is calibrating the measures partly around the potential impact on US buyers and supply chains, economists said. Removing heavily imported essentials such as cement and salt reduces exposure to price increases in areas where Canadian supply plays an important role, even as Washington extends tariffs to other categories.

The 50 per cent duties were imposed under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, a provision allowing the president to respond when the United States determines that another country discriminates against American commerce. The duties apply to covered products even when they qualify for preferential treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Washington’s September 8 measures followed Canada’s decision the same day to begin counter-tariffs of 15, 25 or 50 per cent on specified US-origin goods. Canada said the measures covered C$27.6 billion of imports and were intended to match US tariffs dollar for dollar, with affected sectors including steel, aluminium, dairy products, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, plastics and electronics.

The US administration has described Canada’s trade practices in dairy, alcoholic beverages and motor vehicles as discriminatory. Ottawa has rejected that characterisation and said its countermeasures were a response to earlier US duties.

The original Section 338 tariffs came into force on August 22 after Trump delayed their start during trade discussions. They imposed an additional 50 per cent duty on selected dairy, alcohol and motor-vehicle products. The White House exempted energy, potash, certain critical minerals and goods already covered by some national-security tariffs. Tuesday’s revisions do not lower the statutory 50 per cent rate; they change the product mix to which it applies and, for some categories, alter how duties stack.

Tuesday’s tariff changes are separate from a second set of restrictions due to start on September 29. Trump has signed proclamations excluding certain Canadian alcoholic beverages, dairy products and motorcycles from importation into the United States. Goods covered by those bans that entered the country before the effective date but had not yet cleared for consumption will remain subject to the 50 per cent tariff.

The September 15 adjustment also broadens the range of industrial and consumer products facing the US levy. Newly covered tariff lines include aluminium bars, rods, profiles, tubes and pipes; mechanical-pulp writing and printing paper; base-metal fittings and fasteners; seats and seat parts; household furniture; bedding; snowmobiles; golf carts; and certain small passenger vehicles.

Some of the items being removed are significant Canadian exports to the US market. Canada is a major supplier of cement, salt and paper products, and tariffs on such goods can feed directly into construction, household and industrial costs when importers have limited alternatives.