The White House changed which Canadian products face the additional 50% Section 338 tariff on October 23. The revision takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on October 30 for goods entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption.

This is a reshuffle, not a blanket increase. Some Canadian-origin products lose the extra duty. Others gain it.

Which Canadian Products Lose the 50% Tariff

Part A of the official annex removes the additional duty from several inputs relevant to ecommerce brands: certain plastic boxes and crates, ethylene plastic bags, corrugated cartons, paper bags, molded paper-pulp articles, and selected plywood.

It also removes the duty from specified refrigeration equipment, machinery used to fill, seal, label, or wrap containers, and machines that clean or grade agricultural products.

The relief applies only to the listed HTS provisions. A product description that sounds similar is not enough.

For brands buying Canadian packaging or production equipment, a 50% duty on customs value can overwhelm any supplier price advantage. Removing it may reopen sourcing options that became uneconomic earlier this year.

Which Products Are Newly Covered

Part B adds a much broader group.

Ecommerce-relevant additions include sweetened cocoa powder, shampoos, certain soaps, lubricants, artificial waxes, vinyl flooring, rubber floor mats, wooden packing boxes, paper labels, many carpets and floor coverings, window or wall air conditioners, chest freezers, selected hand power tools, canoes under 7.5 meters, and archery equipment.

The annex states plainly that its descriptions are informational and the HTS provision controls. That matters because two shampoos can share a retail category while differing in origin, composition, or entry classification.

Determining HS codes and clearing customs covers why classification reaches past the first six international digits. For US entry, you need the full tariff treatment confirmed against the product actually being imported.

Entry Date Decides It, Not Your Purchase Order

The proclamation ties the change to goods entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse on or after October 30. It says nothing about an older purchase order, invoice, or sailing date preserving previous treatment.

Ask your broker which entry date applies to inventory already moving. For products sitting in a bonded warehouse, the withdrawal date can be decisive.

Do not assume cargo physically inside the United States has locked in the old tariff.

The additional duty also stacks with Section 232 duties where applicable. You need a full entry calculation, not a 50% multiplier treated as the whole bill.

Run the Margin Math on Customs Value

Start from customs value, not retail price.

A Canadian-origin product with $20 customs value incurs $10 of additional Section 338 duty if it falls within a newly added line. Ordinary duty, brokerage, freight, and fulfillment come on top.

For a $40 retail item previously producing $8 of contribution, a new $10 duty does not cut margin by 25%. It makes the order uneconomic before advertising, returns, or storage.

Run the reverse calculation for relief products. If corrugated cartons or packaging machinery drop off the list, ask suppliers and brokers to requote landed cost rather than leaving an old duty assumption embedded in a 2027 price list.

Canada's counter-tariffs on US-origin products cover the opposite direction of trade. A cross-border seller now faces different product lists depending on which way goods move.

What to Do Before Thursday

Pull every open Canadian purchase order and customs entry. Match the full HTS code against Parts A and B, confirm origin, and have your broker document the conclusion in writing.

Prioritize high-customs-value products and thin-margin SKUs.

For newly covered products, decide whether to accelerate a valid entry, renegotiate price, change origin for future production, or pause replenishment. For relief products, request revised quotations but remove duty buffers from pricing only after your broker confirms treatment.

The proclamation authorizes CBP to issue instructions, so watch for implementation guidance and any technical correction to the HTS. Keep the classification and entry calculation attached to the shipment file.