Your Grocery Cart Is on the List
Some of the most recognizable products are foods.
Specific U.S.-origin dairy products are targeted, including numerous classifications of cheese, while certain milk and cream products face tariffs as high as 50%.
Natural honey is also on the list with a 50% tariff.
That doesn't mean every block of cheese or jar of honey in Canada suddenly gets 25% or 50% more expensive.
The tariff applies only to specified U.S.-origin imports covered by the listed tariff classifications.
Appliances and Electronics Are Included Too
The list moves well beyond food.
Specified refrigerators, freezers, air-conditioning equipment, household appliances and electronics or electronic components are among the products covered.
Then there is a huge industrial side to the measures: steel and aluminum products, agricultural equipment, plastics, and pulp and paper are among the sectors targeted.
For some steel and aluminum products, existing Canadian counter-tariffs will rise from 25% to 50%.
Does a 50% Tariff Mean Prices Rise 50%?
No — and this is an important distinction.
A tariff is imposed when the affected product is imported. It does not automatically translate into an identical increase at the cash register.
Importers and businesses can absorb some of the cost, change suppliers, source products from other countries or pass some or all of the additional cost along.
So Canadians shouldn't expect everything on the government's list to suddenly jump by 15%, 25% or 50% on September 8.
Why Is Canada Doing This?
The move is retaliation for U.S. tariffs.
The federal government says the United States imposed a 50% tariff on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods effective August 22. Canada says its new measures will match the U.S. tariffs “dollar for dollar.”
Existing Canadian counter-tariffs on certain other American products, including U.S. autos, will also continue.
There is one important exception: U.S. goods already in transit to Canada when the new measures take effect aren't subject to these new countermeasures.
For shoppers, September 8 probably won't look dramatically different overnight.
But behind the price tag on some American products, the cost of bringing them into Canada is about to change considerably.