U.S. Tariffs Update – What’s Coming & How RCC is Taking Action

The U.S. tariff situation is moving quickly. The Prime Minister announced late on Monday that if the U.S. tariffs do indeed come into effect on March 4, 2025,  the first phase of Canadian counter-tariffs goods will start as of midnight on March 4, 2025. The Prime Minister will hold a press conference later this morning to expand further on Canada’s response. Please note, other US tariff actions may commence in the coming weeks as well.

Key Dates:

• March 4, 2025: 25% tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican goods entering the U.S. and 10% tariff on Canadian energy exports will be applied starting today. The original parameters laid out in the previous executive order stand, and unless otherwise altered, came into effect on March 4, 2025. Please note, this may change as the situation continues to evolve today. Nonetheless, Canada’s first tranche of tariffs, the initial $30B list released last month, came into effect as of midnight March 4, 2025
  
• March 12, 2025: Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum  the U.S. had imposed in 2018 will be reinstated but the aluminum tariff rate will increase to 25% to match the steel tariff rate. The 2018 list has also been expanded to include new items with steel and aluminum components. This list is now live and can viewed here.
   
• April 1, 2025: The President has said U.S. trading partners that engage in what it considers unfair practices that impact their domestic commercial interests will be subject to new reciprocal tariffs. For Canada, there may be retaliation for our Digital Services Tax and/or the GST.

Canadian Counter-Tariffs:

The Canadian government’s first wave response will be the previously announced $30B list of goods that RCC has learned is unlikely to be altered. The second list, yet to be published, would be a broader list of goods that will be open to public consultation. In both cases, a duty remission process will be available for retailers to make a case if targeted goods cannot be sourced in Canada or elsewhere in adequate quantities. This process was originally online but has since been removed. Questions regarding remission requests can however be shared directly with Finance Canada at: fin.remissions-remises.fin@canada.ca.

RCC Action:

RCC continues to engage directly with senior government officials on several fronts. The RCC team will travel to Washington DC this week to meet with Canadian and American officials. Our objectives are to support the pan-Canadian effort to avoid the tariffs altogether, to ensure that tariff exemptions, remissions, and compensation processes are nimble and responsive to retailers, and to provide members with one-on-one assistance when needed.

Members with questions are encouraged to reach out to to Karl Littler, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs at klittler@retailcouncil.org, or Matt Poirier, Vice President, Federal Government Relations at mpoirier@retailcouncil.org.