Is it possible to request a remission for surcharges imposed on certain goods from the U.S.?

The Department of Finance Canada recently announced that it is putting in place a framework and process to analyze requests for remission for surcharges applied since July 1, 2018. The government will thus be able, in certain cases and for certain American goods, to grant a remission that provides for the relief from the payment of surtaxes, or the refund of surtaxes already paid.

Since July 1, 2018, several American steel, aluminum and other products are subject to surcharges of 25% or 10%. You can find the list of products by consulting this article. These surcharges were announced following the imposition by the United States of surtaxes on certain Canadian steel and aluminum products.

Note that “remission represents an exception to the rules by providing for relief of otherwise applicable duties. As such, remission is only used to address exceptional and compelling circumstances that, from a public policy perspective, are found to outweigh the primary rationale behind the application of duties and, in the current case, surtaxes.”

The Government of Canada website outlines the information requested when filing a request as well as the circumstances under which requests for remission of surcharges are analyzed, namely:

1. To address situations of short supply in the domestic market, either on a national or regional basis.
2. Where there are contractual requirements, existing prior to May 31, 2018, for Canadian businesses to use U.S. steel or aluminum in their products or projects.
3. To address, on a case-by-case basis, other exceptional circumstances that could have severe adverse impacts on the Canadian economy.

For any additional information, our consultation service remains at your disposal at consultations@w2c.ca or by telephone at 514 368-2637, option 2.