Canada extends U.S. tariff relief to June 2028, widening coverage to mining and public education goods

Finance and National Revenue Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced in Ottawa on Monday (November 9) that Canada is changing its tariff relief measures: the horizontal remission for U.S. tariffs will be extended by one year, to June 30, 2028, and its coverage widened, to better support Canadian businesses and workers affected by U.S. tariffs, while encouraging the use of Canadian-made goods wherever possible. (Image: file image of Parliament Hill.)

What is extended, what is widened

The horizontal remission takes effect on November 9, 2026 and runs to June 30, 2028, applying to U.S. goods imported for specified end uses. The widened coverage adds non-steel goods used in mining, quarrying, or the extraction of oil or natural gas, and all goods used by public education entities, including those mandated by Indigenous organizations. Detailed product schedules will be published on the Department of Finance website and incorporated by reference into the orders themselves.

A temporary measure, extended several times

The horizontal remission program was launched in April 2025 and was meant to last only six months, but it has been extended several times since. It grants automatic relief on Canadian tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum to firms importing products that are integral to key Canadian sectors, or that support public health and national security. A spokesperson for the finance minister said the extension is meant to give certainty and predictability to Canadian manufacturers through a period of global instability.

The backdrop: the tariff war continues

Canada maintains 25 percent counter-tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminum, in response to the 50 percent duties levied by the Trump administration under Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act. The remission targets exactly those counter-tariffs: eligible importers are exempt rather than paying first and claiming back. For affected businesses, a one-year extension means import costs are predictable through mid-2028; but remission is not the same as removing the tariffs, and firms still need to check eligibility item by item against the product schedules.

Not to be confused with the China arrangement

This change concerns U.S. tariffs and is separate from the Canada-China arrangement extended on November 4, which keeps favourable Chinese market access for Canadian canola meal, peas, lobsters and crab until the end of 2028, while Canada extends remission measures on certain Chinese steel and aluminum products to the same date. The two arrangements are independent and face different trading partners.

What happens next

The Department of Finance will publish the detailed product schedules, against which businesses can check whether their imports qualify. The political signal is also clear: Ottawa keeps its counter-tariffs in place while using remission to ease the pressure on domestic firms, and writes 'buy Canadian' into the policy's aims. There is no sign yet of when the tariff war itself will cool; the remission at least gives businesses an eighteen-month cushion.