Every Canadian surtax order in force
A surtax is charged on top of the ordinary customs duty, and it is often larger than the duty itself. There is no single government page that lists them all. This one is built from the consolidated regulations and rechecked every night.
Why this page exists. Our own calculator used to check one surtax order and answer "none" for everything else. A reviewer tested Chinese steel pipe and we understated a ten thousand dollar shipment by two and a half thousand. When we went looking properly we found nine orders in force, not one. This page is the list we wish had existed.
What a surtax is, and what it is not
Three different things can be charged on the same shipment and people mix them up constantly.
- Customs duty is the rate in the Customs Tariff for your tariff item. A free trade agreement can reduce it to nil if you hold a valid proof of origin.
- A surtax is an extra charge imposed by an order made under the Customs Tariff, usually as a trade response or a safeguard. A trade agreement does not remove it. Claiming CUSMA on US goods does not avoid a US surtax.
- Anti-dumping and countervailing duty under the Special Import Measures Act is different again. It is set against each exporter's own normal value, so who made the goods changes what you pay.
All three are charged on the value for duty, and the GST is then charged on the total of the value plus the duty plus the surtax. That last point catches people out: a surtax raises your GST as well.
The three we will never put a number on
Six of the nine orders can be priced from a tariff item and a country. Three cannot, and it is worth understanding why, because a tool that guessed here would be wrong in the expensive direction.
- Steel and aluminum melted or smelted in China. This order turns on where the metal was melted and poured, or smelted and cast, whatever the country of origin. Steel melted in China and rolled in a third country is caught. Only the mill certificate answers it.
- Motor vehicles. The rate is 25%, but a vehicle entitled to the United States Tariff is charged on its value less the Canadian and Mexican content, which the importer has to evidence.
- The steel quota order. It is a tariff rate quota. The 50% applies only to the part of a quarterly volume that goes over the quota for that tariff line, and goods brought in without a valid import permit count as over the limit.
Remission orders can relieve a surtax
A remission order can relieve a surtax for particular importers and particular uses. Relief currently exists for steel and aluminum used in making motor vehicles, aerospace goods and their parts, and for qualifying automakers importing a set number of CUSMA-compliant vehicles. Whether one applies to you is not something any automatic tool can know, and it is one of the better reasons to talk to a broker rather than a calculator.
Work out what your shipment actually costs
The duty calculator checks all nine of these orders against your tariff item and your country of manufacture, charges the ones that apply, and names the ones it will not price.
Related
What you actually pay to import into Canada
Duty, surtax, GST and the provincial part, and which of them your province changes.
What documents you need
CARM, the invoice, proof of origin, permits, and who requires each one.
HS codes explained
What the digits mean and how to find the right one.
The rates and citations on this page are read from the consolidated regulations on the Justice Laws website and rechecked nightly. It is information, not customs advice, and it is not a ruling. A surtax can be amended on any day, remission can relieve it, and whether a particular order reaches your goods depends on facts no web page holds. Confirm with a licensed customs broker before you ship.