News Releases

UPDATED: On April 2, 2025, the US Government announced a global slate of tariffs, which added to and updated items that had come into effect over the first three months of the year. This article is intended to provide an overview of US actions, as well as Canadian retaliatory measures, specifically through a direct selling lens.

In brief, the current actions are:

• Any product entering the US originating from Canada, which is not compliant with the Canada-US-Mexico Trade Agreement (CUSMA), has a 25% surtax added and collected by the US Government, charged to the company importing the product from Canada. This applies to finished goods, parts, and raw materials.
• New Canadian-made cars entering the US are subject to a 25% tariff, excluding the value of any US-made parts.
• The US Government has also placed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum from Canada, and a 10% tariff on energy and potash products that are not CUSMA-compliant. 
• Select products entering Canada originating from the US have a 25% surtax added and collected by the Canadian Government, charged to the company importing the product from the US.
• If a product is being transferred within a company, e.g., from a US company to a Canadian subsidiary, tariffs will still apply.
• The country of ownership of the businesses involved is immaterial, e.g., if a US-owned company is bringing products from Canada to the US, tariffs will still apply.
• At this stage, the status of US de minimis duties exemptions for small packages entering the country from Canada remains unclear. Initially, the removal of the duties exemption was announced in February, then delayed until adequate systems were in place to fully and expediently process and collect customs revenue for such goods. On April 2, it was announced that the de minimis exemption will be officially removed from goods from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Hong Kong, as of May 2. It was further announced that de minimis will at some point be withdrawn for all markets, but no date for this change has been given.
• The US Government has announced tariffs on over 180 countries and territories around the world. View the full list at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/the-full-list-of-trump-s-reciprocal-tariffs-1.7500894

Products 

• The full list of products that Canada has added retaliatory tariffs to can be viewed at the following two links: 
  • Stage 1 – https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/03/list-of-products-from-the-united-states-subject-to-25-per-cent-tariffs-effective-march-4-2025.html
  • Stage 2 – https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2025/03/list-of-products-from-the-united-states-subject-to-25-per-cent-tariffs-effective-march-13-2025.html
• Items that DSA Canada members import into Canada and that could be impacted by Canadian retaliatory tariffs include:
  • Personal care items, such as cosmetics, perfumes, soap, shampoo, sunscreen, manicure materials, deodorants, etc. 
  • Clothing
  • Coffee and tea
  • Spices
  • Bags and luggage
  • Jewelry and precious metals
  • Knives, cutlery, and kitchenware 
  • Notebooks, diaries, and albums for collections

Next Steps

• DSA Canada will provide more information to members and stakeholders as this issue develops.
• DSA Canada is continuing to engage with elected officials and other stakeholders on both sides of the border, at both a federal and provincial/state level. We are advocating for de-escalation, negotiation, and the removal of direct sellers’ products from current and future tariffs and other retaliatory measures.
• To ensure compliance, it is recommended that members speak with a trade specialist from amongst the Association’s legal and logistics supplier community – https://dsa.ca/supplier_listing.  
• Now is the time for members to understand how their products are classified and what their tariff responsibilities will be.

This is an issue of considerable significance, which has the potential to cause major short-term and long-term disruption, and to harm the direct selling industry in both Canada and the US. Members should contact Peter Maddox at peter@dsa.ca or 416.903.8518 at any time with questions or concerns.