US surtax 2026. Charged on goods not made in the US?

In one sentence. Canada's 2026 surtax on US goods applies only to goods that originate in the United States under the marking rules, so a product made in Japan, China or anywhere else does not owe it just because a US store sold it or it shipped from the US. If it was charged anyway, a person claims it back from CBSA with Form B2G, and a business corrects its customs entry.

Check your next purchase before you buy: where it was made, whether its tariff item is on the lists, the rate, and what it adds with duty and GST.

The surtax follows where the goods were made

The United States Surtax Order (2026), SOR/2026-186, charges 15%, 25% or 50% of the value for duty on goods that originate in the United States and fall under one of the tariff items it lists. Section 1(2) says what a US good is:

"For the purpose of subsection (1), goods originate in the United States if they are eligible to be marked as goods of the United States in accordance with the Determination of Country of Origin for the Purpose of Marking Goods (CUSMA Countries) Regulations."

Those marking regulations put the origin where the goods were made. Section 4(1):

"The country of origin of goods is the country in which (a) the goods are wholly obtained or produced; (b) the goods are produced exclusively from domestic materials; (c) each of the foreign materials incorporated into the goods undergoes an applicable change in tariff classification and satisfies any other applicable requirements of these Regulations;"

Selling a product from a US store, keeping it in a US warehouse or shipping it from a US address does none of those things. A video game made in Japan is still a Japanese good when it reaches you from a seller in the United States. For personal purchases, which CBSA calls casual goods, Customs Notice 26-23 goes by the marking on the goods:

"Personal importations of goods, also known as casual goods (meaning goods that are imported into Canada other than commercial goods) are considered to originate in the U.S. when the goods are marked as a good of the U.S."

The rule cuts both ways. Casual goods marked as made in the US are treated as US goods even when they come from another country (paragraph 15). And a US good owes the surtax only when it is classifiable under one of the 335 tariff items printed in Schedules 1 to 3 of the Order. A personal parcel entered under a Chapter 98 item listed in Schedule 4 owes it only on that same condition (Customs Notice 26-23, paragraph 7). The full list, with the rate for each group, is on our page on whether the US surtax applies to your goods.

A parcel is charged from what its paperwork says

When a courier brings a personal parcel, the courier can do the customs side for you. CBSA's page on importing casual goods by courier:

"Couriers are authorized by the CBSA to account for casual shipments in lieu of the importer or owner and may remit any applicable duties and/or taxes to the CBSA."

The courier works from what the seller gives it. The same page: "The exporter provides the courier with information about the shipment, such as the value, country of origin, and a detailed description of the goods." By mail, the sender fills in a customs declaration form, CBSA assesses the parcel, and any duty and tax owed is shown on Form E14, the CBSA Postal Import Form, which comes attached to the parcel.

So the surtax on a bill rests on the country of origin written on the paperwork. If that line says United States for a product made somewhere else, the entry can carry a surtax the goods do not owe. A low value does not keep a parcel out of it either. Customs Notice 26-23, paragraph 9:

"Surtax is applicable on shipments that fall under de minimis thresholds."

A wrong surtax raises the GST as well

GST is charged on a value that includes the surtax, so a surtax charged in error overstates the tax on the same line. This is CBSA's own worked example in Customs Notice 26-23, for a good on the 50% list with no customs duty:

On a $150 product that owed no surtax, $75 of surtax and the $3.75 of GST charged on it should not have been paid. Form B2G covers both: CBSA lists the surtax and the GST, HST and PST among the duties and taxes it may refund or adjust.

Check the origin before you buy, and again when the bill comes

Before you buy, look for "Made in" or "Country of origin" in the listing. If it is not there, ask the seller two things: where the product was made, and what country of origin goes on the customs paperwork. A seller in the United States can be selling goods made anywhere.

When the parcel arrives, look at the marking on the product and on its box, and keep the receipt. Then find the customs accounting document, which CBSA says "must have the breakdown of any duties and taxes paid". For a courier parcel it is the courier receipt with the CBSA accounting document number. By mail it is Form E14. For goods you carried across the border it is the Casual Goods Accounting Document, BSF715.

If you see the problem before a courier parcel is delivered, you can refuse the delivery and account for the parcel yourself at a CBSA office that offers accounting services to the public. CBSA:

"Should a casual importer wish to self-account for their shipment, they will need to refuse delivery and advise the courier that they will personally pay any applicable duties and/or taxes directly at a CBSA office and provide the courier proof of payment and approved documentation, once completed."

You bring the tracking number, the commercial invoice (your receipt) and identification, and CBSA says you may save on some administrative fees this way.

A person claims it back with Form B2G

Form B2G is the CBSA Informal Adjustment Request. The time you have depends on how the goods came in. For a mail parcel, CBSA's form instructions add that the back of Form E14 "can also be used to request an adjustment." For goods by mail, or carried across the border:

"Requests for a change in tariff classification, value or origin by mail or hand carried must be made within 1 year of the date of original importation."

For goods by courier:

"All requests must be made within 4 years of the date of original importation, unless otherwise stated in legislation or regulation"

For most reasons, CBSA asks for at least three papers: a copy of the seller's receipt (with the date of purchase, the value and quantity, and the amount and method of payment), a copy of the customs accounting document, and proof that the duty and taxes were paid. Origin is not one of the reasons CBSA's eligibility page names, and its form instructions say that for another reason you "specify the reason". CBSA also says the Casual Refund Centre will contact you if it needs documents its list does not name. A photo of the "Made in" marking and a copy of the listing show where the goods were made, so they are worth adding from the start.

The claim goes by post to the Casual Refund Centre for your postal code: "all claims must be submitted by mail and cannot be accepted electronically." CBSA's service standard is 30 business days from receipt of all required information, and an approved refund may take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive by mail as a Government of Canada cheque. CBSA does not refund requests of $2.00 or less. If a claim based on origin is denied, you can appeal within 90 days of the decision date on the denial letter, online with the CBSA Appeal Form or by letter. What to attach and where to send it is on our page on Form B2G.

A business corrects the customs entry

Commercial goods take a different route. Under Customs Notice 26-23, paragraph 32, when surtax "was self-assessed in error for commercial goods", the CAD (the Commercial Accounting Declaration, the customs entry in CARM) is fixed by a correction before the payment due date, or by an adjustment after it, through the CARM Client Portal, EDI or API. Section 74 of the Customs Act gives four years for most refund claims (Memorandum D6-2-3). Who may file that adjustment is set out on our page on who can file a duty refund.

Casual goods stay on Form B2G even when a broker accounted for them on a CAD. Paragraph 33: "Adjustments for casual goods cannot be submitted through CARM." For commercial goods, origin rests on the proof of origin, which can be the commercial invoice or another document with the data CUSMA requires (paragraph 13), and CBSA gives binding advance rulings on origin and marking for goods from a CUSMA country (paragraph 36).

The surtax itself is not open to appeal. The facts it rests on are. Paragraph 37:

"While the surtax itself cannot be appealed, determinations, re-determinations, or further re-determinations made by the CBSA may be subject to appeal under the Customs Act."

So a surtax charged on goods made outside the US is contested on origin, the same way for a person and for a business.

The courier's own fee does not come back from CBSA

CBSA refunds Canada's charges. What the courier billed for its own work is a separate matter:

"The CBSA cannot refund fees for brokerage and courier services because they are private transactions between the customs broker and the client. For brokerage, shipping, and handling fees, contact your courier or customs broker about refunds."

Canada Post's handling fee is the one exception CBSA names. It comes back only when the goods should have been duty and tax free at import, the claim is approved, and all the duty and tax charged is refunded.