CBP has published the filing instructions.

September 15 is no longer a watch date. It is the entry clock.

At 12:01 a.m. Eastern on September 15, 122 additional classifications for Canadian-origin goods move under the United States’ 50% Section 338 duty. The new list reaches specified structural steel, aluminum profiles and tubing, flexible metal tubing, welding supplies and low-voltage control equipment. It does not cover every Canadian metal or electrical product. The exact 10-digit HTS classification, country of origin and customs-entry treatment decide whether a line is hit. If any of those inputs are missing from an open quote, the landed cost is not settled.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued CSMS #69851916 on September 11 with the Chapter 99 filing mechanics. The notice turns the September 8 presidential action into instructions a broker can use at entry. It confirms which headings carry the 50% rate, which lines come off the list and how foreign-trade-zone entries and drawback are treated. The change applies to goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, from the cutoff onward. A purchase order, invoice or truck departure before September 15 does not create its own exemption.

This is a border-entry problem before it becomes a customer problem.

WHAT CHANGED SINCE THE FIRST ALERT

The legal scope was announced on September 8. CBP has now supplied the operating instructions and a complete list containing 122 additional classifications. Covered goods are filed under Chapter 99 headings 9903.03.12 or 9903.03.14, depending on the underlying classification. CBP says the rate under 9903.03.12, 9903.03.13 and 9903.03.14 remains 50%. It also says there is no change to the goods already assigned to 9903.03.13.

The practical exposure includes specified iron-or-steel columns, posts, beams, girders, structures and parts under 7308.90; aluminum bars, rods, profiles, tubes and pipes under 7604 and 7608; flexible base-metal tubing under 8307; and welding electrodes, cored wire, soldering rods and related goods under 8311. Four detailed low-voltage electrical-control classifications also enter the list. Those cover specified numerical controls, panelboards and distribution boards, programmable controllers and other control or distribution assemblies at no more than 1,000 volts. The product description on a supplier quote is not precise enough to resolve coverage. The 10-digit code is the working fact.

This is narrower than a blanket Canada surcharge and wide enough to break a fixed-price bid.

SOME LINES COME OFF AT THE SAME TIME

CBP also confirms ten removals across headings 9903.03.12 and 9903.03.14. They include Portland cement other than white cement under HTS 2523.29.00, refined unwrought lead under 7801.10.00, and a specified switchgear assembly and switchboard line within 8537.10.91. Salt and several non-construction goods also leave the additional-duty scope. The removal is classification-specific; it does not make all Canadian cement, lead or switchgear free of duty. Base tariffs, antidumping or countervailing duties and other trade measures still apply where relevant.

That split matters at the supplier counter. One low-voltage switchgear line leaves while adjacent control, panelboard and programmable-controller lines enter. A distributor cannot prove the right charge by pointing to the words “electrical equipment.” Ask for the full underlying HTS code and the matching Chapter 99 heading. Removed lines should receive a new landed-cost calculation for entries from the cutoff onward.

THE 50% LAYER CAN STACK

The Federal Register proclamation published September 14 says these modified duties apply in addition to Section 232 duties. That is a material change from the original August treatment OPS covered when the first Canada Section 338 duties took effect. It still does not justify telling every customer that the tariff is now 100%. The combined amount depends on the specific product, metal content, origin and correct customs treatment. Make the broker show the calculation line by line.

CBP also confirms that only goods filed under 9903.03.13 remain eligible for the exclusion heading 9903.03.15 after September 15. Covered goods admitted to a U.S. foreign-trade zone generally must enter in privileged foreign status unless they qualify for domestic status. The additional duties are eligible for drawback, subject to the normal rules. Those mechanics can change cash timing, but they are not permission to improvise a customs strategy. The importer and broker need to document the path.

FIELD MANUAL: RECHECK THE OPEN BID

1. PULL ONLY THE EXPOSED LINES

Search open estimates, purchase orders and material schedules for Canadian-origin structural steel components, aluminum profiles or tubing, flexible metal tubing, welding consumables and low-voltage control gear. Flag those items for proof. Do not apply a percentage to the whole job.

2. GET THE SEVEN FACTS

For every flagged SKU, record the country of origin, full 10-digit HTS code, customs value, importer of record, expected entry or warehouse-withdrawal time, Chapter 99 heading and Section 232 treatment. Ask for the answer in writing from the supplier and the broker handling the entry. A catalogue name or invoice description is not a classification.

3. SPLIT LANDED STOCK FROM FUTURE ENTRIES

Separate material already entered into U.S. commerce from goods still in Canada, in transit or held in a bonded warehouse or foreign-trade zone. The September 15 rule follows entry for consumption or withdrawal for consumption. The order date and departure date do not decide the treatment.

4. MAKE EVERY SURCHARGE PROVE ITSELF

Require the affected SKU, HTS line, customs value, duty stack and importer behind any new “Canada tariff” charge. Reject a blanket surcharge across every Canadian item. Where a line is removed, request the revised landed cost instead of assuming the reduction will arrive automatically.

5. RESET THE COMMERCIAL TERMS

Revalidate fixed-price bids built on an unproven landed cost. Shorten quote validity where entry details are missing, identify who carries the import charge and have trade counsel review any escalation or change-in-law clause before relying on it. Then explain the exact affected line to the customer in plain English.

THE OWNER’S CALL

Send one request now: “Confirm the SKU, origin, 10-digit HTS code, customs value, importer, entry time, Chapter 99 heading and Section 232 treatment for every Canadian line on this quote.”

Then reprice only what the paperwork proves. The list moved. Your margin does not have to move blindly with it.

This update builds on OPS’s August 22 Canada duty alert. That first article covered the original collection event; this one covers the September 15 scope change and CBP’s new entry instructions.

SOURCES