Carson Blog

President Trump on July 20 issued three proclamations invoking Section 338 of the Trade Act of 1930, each imposing an additional ad valorem duty of 50% on certain products of Canada, effective 12:01 a.m. ET on August 19, 2026.

While the three proclamations are framed as responses to Canadian measures on dairy, alcoholic beverages, and motor vehicles, the actual product coverage is much broader. The annexes to each proclamation list the specific HTS numbers subject to the new 50% duty.

The full lists of impacted HS codes are set out in the annexes below:

• Dairy proclamation — “Imposing Additional Duties to Offset Canadian Discrimination Against the Commerce of the United States with Respect to Dairy”: Annex 1 | Annex II
• Alcoholic beverages proclamation — “Imposing Additional Duties to Offset Canadian Discrimination Against the Commerce of the United States with Respect to Alcoholic Beverages”: Annex I | Annex II
• Motor vehicles proclamation — “Imposing Additional Duties to Offset Canadian Discrimination Against the Commerce of the United States with Respect to Motor Vehicles”: Annex 1 | Annex II

The 50% duty applies regardless of CUSMA eligibility, with only narrow exclusions for energy, potash, fish, and critical minerals. Observers have noted that the tariffs are not taking effect immediately, providing Canada with time to negotiate.

Please contact Carson for assistance, or if you would like a customized impact report

Starting July 8, 2026, your Certificate of Compliance data must be filed electronically with CBP at the time of entry.

Who this impacts

Any importer of record bringing CPSC-regulated consumer products into the U.S. — including apparel (adult and children’s), children’s products, toys, mattresses, furniture, and other certified goods.

If you are unsure whether your product qualifies, please confirm first using CPSC’s free Regulatory Robot tool: https://www.cpsc.gov/Business–Manufacturing/Regulatory-Robot/Safer-Products-Start-Here

If Your Products are Regulated, Enroll in the CPSC Product Registry and Pre-file your products

Importers are strongly encouraged to register directly with CPSC to obtain credentials for the eFiling system. Register here

Once enrolled, load your certificate data in the Product Registry once. When registering, record the IDs generated for each product and provide to Carson at time of entry: Certificate ID, Product ID and Version ID.

Importers who do not enroll in the Product Registry can still comply by providing Carson with the full certificate data set for each shipment. This option is best for infrequent importers or those who have not yet completed their enrollment. This requires you to provide the seven data elements to Carson with every shipment:

• Product ID
• Applicable safety rule citation codes
• Date of manufacture
• Place of manufacture
• Date of most recent compliance testing
• Testing laboratory contact information
• Point of contact maintaining the records

In all cases of CPSC regulated products, Carson recommends including a copy of the certificate with your shipment documents in case they are requested by CBP.

Update Your Invoices

Please update your invoices with the Certificate ID, Product ID and Version ID generated by the CPSC portal for each product, along with your Certifier ID and the applicable Intended Use Code. If you are not enrolled, you will need to include the seven data elements listed above on your customs invoice so that Carson can include these on the customs entry.

CPSC has identified approximately 600 HTS codes that will be automatically flagged in ACE starting July 8. 
Entries filed under a flagged code without eFiling data will receive an immediate electronic warning, and shipments may be placed under review or held for examination. If your product falls under a flagged HTS but does not require a CPC or GCC, you will need to advise Carson to disclaim CPSC by adding this instruction to your customs invoice: “CPSC Disclaimed.” 
Note: An unflagged code does not mean you are exempt. If your product requires a CPC or GCC, the eFiling obligation applies regardless of whether your HTS code appears on the flagged list.

You can view the full list of flagged HTS codes to verify if you need to include a disclaim instruction here: CPSC-Guidance-and-HTS-List-for-Filing-of-Electronic-Certificates-6B-Cleared.pdf

Please be aware if the required CPSC data or the CPSC disclaim instructions are missing, this will result in your shipment getting delayed and or held at the border.

Please reach out to Carson for assistance.

On July 1, 2026, Canada, the United States, and Mexico held CUSMA’s mandatory six-year joint review. The United States did not agree to renew the agreement in its current form, with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer confirming the agreement “is not renewed.”

CUSMA Remains in Force

Non-renewal does not end the agreement. CUSMA continues to apply as before:

• Preferential tariff treatment, rules of origin, and certification requirements are unchanged
• No new duties or legal changes take effect as a result of the review
• Importers and exporters should continue claiming CUSMA preference on eligible goods

What Changed: Annual Reviews Instead of Automatic Extension

A successful review would have extended CUSMA automatically for a further 16 years. Instead, the agreement now moves into annual joint reviews.

Washington’s decision opens the door to what could be a decade of negotiations over trade deficits, automotive rules of origin, North American content requirements, and restrictions on foreign inputs in regional supply chains. For businesses, the practical effect is added uncertainty around investment decisions and the integrated supply chains that underpin North American manufacturing and trade.

The Timeline

If the three governments do not agree to an extension, CUSMA is scheduled to expire on July 1, 2036. A full extension remains possible at any point before then, by agreement of all three parties.

The U.S. Surtax Remission Order relieves Canadian importers from paying surtaxes Canada imposed on certain U.S. goods (steel, aluminum, and related products). Recent amendments to the Order have added new products to several schedules and extended horizontal relief by a year to June 30, 2027. More details below:

• Products have been added to schedules 2, 3, 4, and 4.1, further to an assessment of a fourth tranche of remission requests received by the Department of Finance.
• Horizontal relief, which had been set to expire on June 30, 2026, has been extended to June 30, 2027, for the following:
  • Aluminum and steel goods and motor vehicles used for public health, health care, public safety and national security purposes under Section 1 and 2; 
  • Aluminum goods used for manufacturing, processing, food and beverage packaging or agricultural production under Section 3; and, 
  • Aluminum and steel goods used for the manufacturing of motor vehicles, aerospace products, and their related parts under Section 3.1. 
• Remission has been extended to a range of steel mill products, listed in Schedule 6, that have been determined not to be made in Canada.

For reference, the Remission Order is structured as follows:

• Products listed in Schedules 1, 2, 5 and 6 and Section 4.3 are subject to broad remission for all importers, indefinitely from the time the tariffs came into effect.
• Products listed in Schedule 3 are subject to broad remission for all importers, from the time the tariffs came into effect until the date specified in column 3.
• Products listed in Schedule 4 are subject to remission by a specified importer listed in column 1 (according to business number) and subject to any other applicable condition listed in column 4, from entry into force of the tariffs until September 1, 2025. 
• Products listed in Schedule 4.1 are subject to remission by a specified importer listed in column 1 (according to business number), during the period specified in column 4, and subject to any other applicable condition listed in column 5.

For more information, please review the amendment here. Further information will be published in due course in the CBSA’s Customs Notice.

Filing Claims Under the Remission Order & Duty Drawback

Carson can help you file claims for a wide range of products that were granted relief, including cases where surtax has already been paid.

If your steel items aren’t covered by the Remission Order, you may still recover surtax through a duty drawback — provided the goods are either exported from Canada in the same condition or used in the production of goods that are subsequently exported. If you export products that contain surtaxable items, please get in touch with us to explore your options.

Starting July 8, 2026, your Certificate of Compliance data must be filed electronically with CBP at the time of entry.

Who this impacts

Any importer of record bringing CPSC-regulated consumer products into the U.S. — including apparel (adult and children’s), children’s products, toys, mattresses, furniture, and other certified goods.

If you are unsure whether your product qualifies, please confirm first using CPSC’s free Regulatory Robot tool: https://www.cpsc.gov/Business–Manufacturing/Regulatory-Robot/Safer-Products-Start-Here

If Your Products are Regulated, Enroll in the CPSC Product Registry and Pre-file your products

Importers are strongly encouraged to register directly with CPSC to obtain credentials for the eFiling system. Register here

Once enrolled, load your certificate data in the Product Registry once. When registering, record the IDs generated for each product and provide to Carson at time of entry: Certificate ID, Product ID and Version ID.

Importers who do not enroll in the Product Registry can still comply by providing Carson with the full certificate data set for each shipment. This option is best for infrequent importers or those who have not yet completed their enrollment. This requires you to provide the seven data elements to Carson with every shipment:

• Product ID
• Applicable safety rule citation codes
• Date of manufacture
• Place of manufacture
• Date of most recent compliance testing
• Testing laboratory contact information
• Point of contact maintaining the records

In all cases of CPSC regulated products, Carson recommends including a copy of the certificate with your shipment documents in case they are requested by CBP.

Update Your Invoices

Please update your invoices with the Certificate ID, Product ID and Version ID generated by the CPSC portal for each product, along with your Certifier ID and the applicable Intended Use Code. If you are not enrolled, you will need to include the seven data elements listed above on your customs invoice so that Carson can include these on the customs entry.

CPSC has identified approximately 600 HTS codes that will be automatically flagged in ACE starting July 8. 
Entries filed under a flagged code without eFiling data will receive an immediate electronic warning, and shipments may be placed under review or held for examination. If your product falls under a flagged HTS but does not require a CPC or GCC, you will need to advise Carson to disclaim CPSC by adding this instruction to your customs invoice: “CPSC Disclaimed.” 
Note: An unflagged code does not mean you are exempt. If your product requires a CPC or GCC, the eFiling obligation applies regardless of whether your HTS code appears on the flagged list.

You can view the full list of flagged HTS codes to verify if you need to include a disclaim instruction here: CPSC-Guidance-and-HTS-List-for-Filing-of-Electronic-Certificates-6B-Cleared.pdf

Please be aware if the required CPSC data or the CPSC disclaim instructions are missing, this will result in your shipment getting delayed and or held at the border.

Please reach out to Carson for assistance.

The White House issued an executive order overhauling who can serve as an Importer of Record (IOR) and how entries are vetted. The directive could have a major impact on Canadian businesses currently acting as FIORs (foreign importers of record) in the USA. 

Key changes:

• Higher eligibility bar. by Nov. 30, 2026, CBP must require every IOR to hold minimum tangible domestic assets or bonding, file expanded disclosures, and maintain “good standing.”
• Foreign vs. U.S. IORs
  • The EO defines a U.S. IOR as one whose controlling beneficial owners are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, or — for an entity — that owns a significant amount of U.S. real property.
  • Foreign IORs are prohibited from filing informal entries (generally shipments under $2500) under 19 U.S.C. 1498
  • A foreign IOR may not rely on a continuous bond to meet the bond requirements for entry, except as permitted by CBP when the foreign IOR has demonstrated that the revenue would be fully protected and that compliance with the laws, regulations, and instructions enforced by CBP would be assured
  • For formal entry, a foreign IOR must also be validated in CBP’s Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) program – if determined by CBP to be eligible – or use a CTPAT-validated and licensed customs broker (such as Carson) to file entries with CBP

The E.O. is a directive issued to CBP, and the exact details have yet to be confirmed. You can read the EO online here.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has been experiencing intermittent system delays affecting commercial processing since April.

The Agency activated its System Outage Contingency Plan on April 19, setting out procedures for moving commercial goods across all modes of transportation during a systems outage. Since then, CBSA has been using alternative submission and release measures, in coordination with trade chain and government partners, to keep goods flowing.

Most issues have been resolved, and work continues to clear the residual backlog. Ten IT fixes have been implemented in recent days, with more planned. Full implementation is expected to take about another week. CBSA has also issued additional guidance to front-line operations to ensure consistent processing and provide workarounds where needed.