July 11, 2018

Surtax on certain goods from the U.S. could be remitted under special circumstances

The Government of Canada announced that it may consider remission requests for the surtaxes on U.S. products that came into force on July 1, 2018, under very specific circumstances. Such a remission would allow for relief from the payment of surtaxes, or the refund of surtaxes already paid.

Such a remission would only be granted to address exceptional and compelling circumstances that, from a public policy perspective, are found to outweigh the primary rationale behind the application of duties and, in the current case, surtaxes.

The Government will consider requests for remission of the surtaxes on U.S. goods only in the following instances:

  • To address situations of short supply in the domestic market, either on a national or regional basis.

  • Where there are contractual requirements, existing prior to May 31, 2018, for Canadian businesses to use U.S. steel or aluminum in their products or projects.

  • To address, on a case-by-case basis, other exceptional circumstances that could have severe adverse impacts on the Canadian economy.

Any request for remission will be considered by a federal inter-departmental committee, which will be tasked with making recommendations.

Link: Process for requesting remission of surtaxes that apply on certain goods from the U.S.