Toronto, October 17, 2025
The Department of Finance have issued the following statement today, Canadian businesses impacted by response to U.S. tariffs to benefit from relief, advising an extension to the available remission orders, which expired yesterday:
- the current exemption for U.S. goods used in manufacturing, processing, or food and beverage packaging has been extended for an additional two months, and now includes goods used in agricultural production.
- the temporary exemption from tariffs on imports of U.S. goods that are used to support public health, health care, public safety and national security objectives has also been extended for an additional two months.
- In addition to these changes, further relief from Canada’s tariffs on imports from the U.S. and China have now been implemented for companies that met strict conditions such as demonstrating short supply or existing contractual obligations.
The Order Amending the China Surtax Remission Order (2024) and the United States Surtax Remission Order (2025) (2025-1) (the “Remission Order”) entered into force on October 15, 2025. The full text of the Remission Order can be found here, and will be published in the November 5, 2025 edition of Part II of the Canada Gazette.
The Remission Order provides relief from the payment of surtaxes at the time of importation, or the refund of surtaxes already paid, under specific circumstances. The Remission Order is structured as follows:
- Products listed in Schedules 1 and 2 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, 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.
- Products listed in Section 4.3 are subject to indefinite broad remission for all importers, from the time the tariffs came into effect.
The Remission Order expands the scope of relief provided under the United States Surtax Remission Order (2025), first implemented in April 2025, and amended in June 2025 (see a version current as of June 25, 2025 here).
Please also note that, in addition to product and company-specific relief, the Remission Order also implements the following changes to the horizontal relief provided under the United States Surtax Remission Order (2025):
- Relief provided for public health, public safety and national security entities under Sections 1 and 2 has been extended to December 15, 2025.
- Relief provided for goods used in manufacturing, processing and the packaging of a food or beverage under Section 3 has also been extended to December 15, 2025, and expanded to cover goods used in agricultural production.
- 3 Subject to section 5, remission is granted of surtaxes paid or payable under the United States Surtax Order (2025-1) or the United States Surtax Order (Steel and Aluminum 2025) in respect of goods imported for use, in Canada, in the manufacture or processing of any good, in the production of any agricultural product or in the packaging of a food product or beverage.
We encourage importers to consult the Remission Order to confirm whether their products being imported are eligible for remission.
For more information, please call Brian Rowe, Director – Customs Compliance & Regulatory Affairs at (905) 882-4880, ext. 1213.
