For years, CUSMA meant our packaging crossed into Canada duty-free. That changed this summer. In August, the U.S. put 50% tariffs on Canadian goods with no CUSMA exemption. On September 8, Canada answered with surtaxes of its own on American products, and those surtaxes cover much of our stock packaging.

There's some good news, though. The U.S. tariffs are tied to three specific disputes over alcohol distribution, dairy quotas, and autos. That means duty-free trade could return as soon as the three governments reach agreement.

In the meantime, you probably have questions if you're a Canadian brand or you ship to Canadian customers. Which products are affected? Who actually pays? Is there a way around it? We've broken it all down below, product by product, so you can plan your next order without any surprise invoices.

Key Takeaways

• Most of our U.S.-made stock packaging now carries a Canadian surtax, and a handful of items aren't hit at all.

• The surtax follows where a product was made, not where it ships from. Our internationally made items enter Canada surtax-free even though they ship from Colorado.

• You won't see the surtax on our invoice. It's assessed at the border and billed to the receiver by the carrier or broker, often days or weeks later and sometimes with a brokerage fee.

• There's no de minimis threshold. Samples and small reorders are subject to the surtax just like big shipments.

• Canadian brands exporting to the U.S. may be able to recover the full surtax. Duty Drawback and Duties Relief both apply to our American-made packaging, so talk to your customs broker early and keep clean records.

Table of Contents

• Where Do Things Stand?
• Current Tariff Rates on Products Previously Exempted via CUSMA
• Where in the Shipping Process is this Actually Charged
• Next Steps For Canadian Brands That Ship into the U.S.

Nobody pays a tariff when they place an order. It gets charged at the border, to the receiver, usually days later, and often by the carrier rather than the government.

Here is the process.

1. You place the order, and we ship it. Our invoice covers the product and freight. No duty or surtax appears on it because, at that point, none has been assessed.

2. The shipment is declared at the border. We provide the commercial invoice with the HS code, declared order value, and country of manufacture.

3. The carrier or broker calculates what is owed. For small parcels, FedEx, UPS, and DHL automatically act as your customs broker. On freight and larger LTL shipments, the broker handles the entry. The surtax is calculated on the declared value for duty, in addition to any regular duty, and GST is then charged on the combined total.

4. The carrier can front the money to get your freight released. This is why your shipment sometimes arrives before the bill does. The carrier pays customs, so the goods keep moving.

5. You get invoiced, days or weeks later. It can come as a separate duty and tax invoice by the carrier, often with a brokerage or disbursement fee attached.

Small orders are not exempt, and there is no de minimis threshold, so samples and small reorders are captured as well.

If you import our packaging into Canada and then export your finished product to the U.S., Canada's Duty Drawback and Duties Relief programs let you recover the surtax you paid.

Normally, there is a catch called the "lesser of the two duties" rule, which caps your refund. But CBSA has confirmed that when the goods are of U.S. or Mexican origin under CUSMA, that limitation does not apply. Our American-made packaging qualifies. That means full relief on the surtax.

Duty Drawback refunds the surtax you have already paid, which you can claim retroactively.

Duties Relief lets you skip paying it altogether.

You will need to document the link between what you imported and what you exported, so talk to your customs broker early and keep clean records from the first shipment.

If a meaningful share of your orders ship back to the U.S., this can wipe out the 50% entirely for a large chunk of your business.

Questions? Reach out to your EcoEnclose account representative or contact us.

This is general guidance, not customs or legal advice. Classification and duty determinations are made by CBSA and CBP on the facts of each entry, so confirm anything material with a licensed customs broker.

Sources: Department of Finance Canada counter tariff list, CBSA Customs Notice 26-23 (United States Surtax Order 2026), USTR Section 301 forced labour determinations, and the CUSMA joint review record. Rates current as of September 13, 2026.