Attendees of the CSCB Webinar: Update on Steel and Aluminum Import Requirements had a lot of questions for Global Affairs Canada and for the CBSA, some of which were answered after the webinar. You'll find below the list of questions and the answers provided by the respective Agency.
Thank you to all who attended and made this webinar such a great experience!
Questions to Global Affairs Canada
- What happens for NRI's who cannot get an EIPA# and are acting as the NRI, and have a shipment requirement for an import permit?
Answer: EIPA file numbers can be requested by non-resident or foreign companies (e.g. a U.S. company), but the permit applicant must be a Canadian resident individual, broker, or business. As per the EIPA, an individual is defined as a natural person who is a resident of Canada. A business is defined as a corporation having its head office in Canada or operating a branch office in Canada. Businesses applying independently of a broker should select “Applying as a CRA Registered business’’.
A Canadian resident can therefore act and import as an applicant on behalf of a non-resident. However, it is important to highlight that, under the EIPA, the permit applicant may be held responsible for any offence committed by the importer of record. See section 21 of the Export and Import Permits Act below:
‘‘21. Where a permit under this Act is issued to a person who has applied for it for, on behalf of, or for the use of, another person who is not a resident of Canada and that other person commits an offence under this Act, the person who applied for the permit is, whether or not the non-resident has been prosecuted or convicted, guilty of the like offence and liable, on conviction, to the punishment provided for the offence, on proof that the act or omission constituting the offence took place with the knowledge or consent of the person who applied for the permit or that the person who applied therefor failed to exercise due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.’’
- Is it possible to apply for a permit in the second quarter for goods stored in a bonded warehouse if the quota was already exhausted in the first quarter?
Answer: This depends on whether goods placed in a bonded warehouse are considered to have entered Canada on the date they are placed in bond, or on the date they are released from the bonded warehouse. We are unfortunately unable to advise on whether goods in bond are considered to be already “entered,” as Global Affairs Canada does not administer the regulations governing bonded goods and warehouses, which fall under the purview of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). With respect to bonded warehouses, importers should contact the CBSA directly and consult the Memorandum D7-4-4: Customs Bonded Warehouses for further information on the applicable regulations.
CSCB Note – this has been sent to CBSA so they may provide a response.
- The date in the upper right corner seems to be set as =Today(), thus: is this real time data? If not, how often are these reports run? Can the run date be added to the reports, as it is indicated on the Steel import monitoring program reports?
Answer: The utilization reports published online are not updated in real time. They are currently updated once daily, with updates processed overnight. Due to current system limitations, the reports cannot be updated in real time or more than once per day. However, Global Affairs Canada is examining the feasibility of increasing the update frequency of the utilization reports and will also examine if it would be possible to indicate the refresh time on the report itself like for the Steel import monitoring program reports.
- Steel import monitoring program reports indicate frequency of updates, but the page is showing only the latest report. If reports are run on a weekly basis, is GAC archiving weekly reports somewhere and can we get access to past reports (from the date of introduction of tariffs on both US and on FTA/non-FTA countries)?
Answer: Steel TRQ utilization reports are updated daily, and previous, daily, versions are not and have never been archived since the implementation of the TRQs.
- A lot of steels covered by these tariffs are not produced in Canada at all. Any chance of some exclusion process being implemented in the future (on top of TRQ)?
Answer: The TRQs have been calibrated to minimize unintended impacts on downstream steel users, who may continue to source from Canadian steel producers or avail themselves of the imported shipments made within the tariff-free quota.
Remission for products subject to the TRQ will only be considered in exceptional circumstances on a case-by-case basis, such as situations of domestic short supply. Any question or request for remissions or exclusions should be submitted to the Department of Finance and will be assessed on its own merits. The Department of Finance can be contacted at [email protected].
Questions to CBSA
- Shipments valued at under $5000 CAD still exempt from COM certificates?
Answer: Steel and aluminum goods for which the cumulative value for duty of all goods subject to the Steel Goods and Aluminum Goods Surtax Order and accounted for under a single Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD) does not exceed $5,000 are not subject to the surtax. For specificity, a shipment or transaction accounted for under a single CAD may contain other non-subject goods; the value of those goods will not count towards the $5,000 limit. For more information, please refer to Customs Notice 25-28: Steel Goods and Aluminum Goods Surtax Order.
- If a discount is taken on the value of the steel ... do you declare the value before or after the discount?
Answer: If a discount is granted prior to, or at time of importation, the amount of that discount should be considered when calculating the price paid or payable for the imported goods. However, in accordance with paragraph 48(5)(c) of the Act, any rebate or decrease in the price paid or payable occurring after importation must be disregarded. For more information on discounts, refer to Memorandum D13-4-10 - Price Reductions.
- When confirming an entry with a permit, is it validated by the permit number or must it match the transaction number?
Answer: Importers must have a shipment-specific permit to declare the importation is under the TRQ and therefore is not subject to the surtax. For details on how to account for goods subject to the Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods, please refer to Customs Notice 25-24: Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods. Importers must declare imported goods as subject to a surtax when completing a Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD) via CARM Client Portal (CCP), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or Application Programming Interface (API) and declare the applicable surtax code. The permit number is not entered in the CAD.
The CBSA may conduct a verification to verify importers possess a valid GAC-issued shipment-specific import permit. In instances where the importer does not possess valid documentation, the CBSA may re-calculate the amount of surtax owing.
- Can you please clarify steel of US origin - do they attract 25% surtax or 50% surtax
Answer: Effective March 13, 2025, steel, aluminum and certain other goods imported into Canada and originating in the U.S. are subject to a surtax in the amount of 25% of the value for duty in accordance with the United States Surtax Order (Steel and Aluminum 2025). Please refer to Customs Notice 25-11: United States Surtax Order (Steel and Aluminum 2025) for more information.
- Permit has been obtained, but the entry was CAD accepted without the proper permit number input, there was no surtax applied to the CAD, how can we correct the CAD with the permit number?
Answer: Importers must have a shipment-specific permit to declare the importation is under the TRQ and therefore is not subject to the surtax. For details on how to account for goods subject to the Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods, please refer to Customs Notice 25-24: Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods. Importers must declare imported goods as subject to a surtax when completing a Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD) via CARM Client Portal (CCP), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or Application Programming Interface (API) and declare the applicable surtax code. The permit number is not entered in the CAD.
The CBSA may conduct a verification to verify importers possess a valid GAC-issued shipment-specific import permit. In instances where the importer does not possess valid documentation, the CBSA may re-calculate the amount of surtax owing.
- Is it possible that goods with surtax relieved by a TRQ permit may be subject to the 25% surtax from CN25-28? If so, what is the surtax rate?
Answer: The Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods specifies that goods are subject to surtax if they exceed the TRQs. Therefore, if a good is imported within TRQs (i.e., imported under a shipment-specific permit), it is not subject to surtax. This does not negate subjectivity to other applicable surtaxes, meaning if imported under a shipment-specific permit, the goods would not be subject to the TRQ surtax, but may be subject to other applicable surtaxes.
Section 3.1 of the Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods provides that any good subject to the TRQ surtax may not be subject to other surtax imposed under the Customs Tariff. Accordingly, the following ‘hierarchies’ exist with respect to surtax applicability (i.e. the TRQ surtax applies first, and if it does not, other surtaxes may be applicable):
- If the TRQ surtax does not apply, the China surtax applies
- The US Surtax applies irrespective of the TRQ surtax, as the U.S. is excluded from the TRQ measures
- If the TRQ surtax does not apply, COM/CSC surtax applies
Effective July 31, 2025, certain steel goods imported into Canada and containing steel melted and poured in China and certain aluminum goods imported into Canada and containing aluminum smelted and cast in China are subject to a surtax in the amount of 25% of the value for duty in accordance with the Steel Goods and Aluminum Goods Surtax Order. See Customs Notice 25-28: Steel Goods and Aluminum Goods Surtax Order for details.
- If our permit is accepted to avoid the 50% surtax. Do we still have to put in the 25% surtax if product is from China
Answer: The Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods specifies that goods are subject to surtax if they exceed the TRQs. Therefore, if a good is imported within TRQs (i.e., imported under a shipment-specific permit), it is not subject to surtax. This does not negate subjectivity to other applicable surtaxes, meaning if imported under a shipment-specific permit, the goods would not be subject to the TRQ surtax, but may be subject to other applicable surtaxes.
Section 3.1 of the Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods provides that any good subject to the TRQ surtax may not be subject to other surtax imposed under the Customs Tariff. Accordingly, the following ‘hierarchies’ exist with respect to surtax applicability (i.e. the TRQ surtax applies first, and if it does not, other surtaxes may be applicable):
- If the TRQ surtax does not apply, the China surtax applies
- The US Surtax applies irrespective of the TRQ surtax, as the U.S. is excluded from the TRQ measures
- If the TRQ surtax does not apply, COM/CSC surtax applies
- If you have a permit within the quota, will it relief the surtax and does it cancel SIMA?
Answer: The Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods specifies that goods are subject to surtax if they exceed the TRQs. Therefore, if a good is imported within TRQs (i.e., imported under a shipment-specific permit), it is not subject to surtax.
Anti-dumping and countervailing duties are independent of the application of the surtax.
- Are there any Remission Orders in sight for materials subject to this Order? (A lot of these products are not produced in Canada at all.)
Answer: While existing remission orders are administered by the CBSA, requests for and reviews of new remission are made to the Department of Finance Canada. This department is the lead department for considering implementation of a new remission order for certain goods subject to the Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods; please refer to Customs Notice 25-24: Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods. Importers can submit any inquiries or remission requests to: [email protected].
- We have the same question as the previous caller. We have a permit but there is no way to submit the permit on the CAD when finalization to CBSA. Also does the GIP 80 or 81 need to be change on the description to GIP 82 for Shipment specific permits. Would CBSA require the permit document in CARM against the CAD transaction.
Answer: Release: Importers must provide General Import Permit (GIP) and Country of Melt and Pour (COM) information, where applicable, in order to obtain release of the goods into Canada, including when using the Single Window Integrated Import Declaration (IID).
Accounting: Importers must have a shipment-specific permit to declare the importation is under the TRQ and therefore is not subject to the surtax. For details on how to account for goods subject to the Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods, please refer to Customs Notice 25-24: Order Imposing a Surtax on the Importation of Certain Steel Goods. Importers must declare imported goods as subject to a surtax when completing a Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD) via CARM Client Portal (CCP), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or Application Programming Interface (API) and declare the applicable surtax code. The permit number is not entered in the CAD.
The CBSA may conduct a verification to verify importers possess a valid GAC-issued shipment-specific import permit. In instances where the importer does not possess valid documentation, the CBSA may re-calculate the amount of surtax owing.