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  • Canada Section 338 actions: duty lists changed September 15, import exclusions begin September 29

    Canada Section 338 actions: duty lists changed September 15, import exclusions begin September 29

    Five presidential proclamations signed September 8, 2026 and published in the Federal Register on September 14, 2026 change the treatment of certain Canadian goods at the United States border in two steps. On September 15, 2026, the list of Canadian motor vehicle and alcoholic beverage products subject to an additional 50 percent duty changed. On September 29, 2026, listed Canadian motor vehicle, dairy, and alcoholic beverage products are excluded from importation altogether.

    All five proclamations are issued under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S.C. §1338, together with 3 U.S.C. §301 and Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, 19 U.S.C. §2483. Section 338 authorizes the President to respond to discrimination by a foreign country against the commerce of the United States, first with additional duties and, if the discrimination continues, by excluding the country’s products. That two-step structure is what these documents follow.

    Step one, September 15: the duty lists changed

    Proclamation 11065 modifies the scope of Canadian motor vehicle products subject to the additional 50 percent ad valorem duty first imposed by Proclamation 11048 of July 20, 2026. Proclamation 11064 does the same for alcoholic beverage products under the duty imposed by Proclamation 11046. In each, the products in Annex I, Part A remain subject to the 50 percent duty, and the products in Annex I, Part B are no longer subject to it. Annex II directs the corresponding change to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.

    Both proclamations are effective for goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on September 15, 2026.

    CBP’s implementing guidance, CSMS #69851916 of September 11, 2026, states that 122 additional HTSUS classifications became subject to the additional duty under headings 9903.03.12 through 9903.03.14, and that nine classifications were removed. The guidance also states that goods properly claimed under a Chapter 98 provision are not subject to the additional duty, with exceptions for the repair and assembly provisions it lists; that goods admitted to a foreign trade zone must be admitted in privileged foreign status; that the additional duties are eligible for drawback; and that they apply in addition to any antidumping, countervailing, or other duties, taxes, fees, or charges. The United States International Trade Commission published the corresponding HTS change as Revision 19 of the 2026 schedule on September 15, 2026.

    Step two, September 29: exclusion from importation

    Proclamations 11061, 11062, and 11063 exclude certain Canadian alcoholic beverage, dairy, and motor vehicle products, respectively, from importation into the United States. Each proclamation lists the excluded products in an annex. The dairy proclamation cites Canada’s failure to remove tariff rate quota restrictions on United States cheese, which the proclamation states Canada had earlier indicated it would remove by August 2026. The motor vehicle and alcoholic beverage proclamations cite continued discrimination after the earlier duty proclamations and, for alcoholic beverages, retaliatory levies announced by Canada.

    The exclusions are effective for goods imported on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern time on September 29, 2026. Goods imported before that time but not yet entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, remain subject to the 50 percent duty under the earlier proclamations rather than the exclusion. Each proclamation also provides that if the import ban is invalidated in whole or in part as to any import, the 50 percent duty applies to that import instead.

    What this is and is not

    These are country-specific actions on defined product lists. They do not change the general rules on who may act as Importer of Record, on bonds, or on customs valuation. They also do not bear on Executive Order 14411 or the 2026 customs enforcement order, which runs on a separate track.

    They do bear on two things every importer of Canadian goods already lives with. First, the duty on a listed product is a percentage of the customs value declared on the entry, and the Importer of Record is the party that owes it. Second, from September 29 a listed product cannot be entered at all, and the exclusion attaches at importation, not at entry. A shipment on the water on September 28 and a shipment on the water on September 30 are treated differently.

    The product lists are in the annexes to each proclamation, linked below. This site has not reproduced them, and any importer of Canadian motor vehicle, dairy, or alcoholic beverage products would read the relevant annex against its own tariff classifications.

    Sources

  • H.R. 5334: what the Senate-passed secondary tariff sections say, and where the House vote stands

    H.R. 5334: what the Senate-passed secondary tariff sections say, and where the House vote stands

    The House of Representatives adopted the rule for floor consideration of the Senate amendments to H.R. 5334, the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, on September 15, 2026 by a vote of 214 to 211. The rule provides for a single motion to concur in the Senate amendments. If that motion is agreed to, the bill goes to the President. As of September 16, 2026, the official record available to this site does not yet show the concurrence vote, and no provision of the bill is in effect.

    This post describes what the Senate-passed text says about import duties, what the House is actually voting on, and what has and has not happened. It is written from the bill text, the House Rules Committee record, and the Statement of Administration Policy, all linked under Sources.

    What the Senate-passed text does on the import side

    Two sections of the Senate amendment reach importers directly. Both are written as duties on goods, not as sanctions on persons, which means they operate through the customs entry.

    Section 112, duties on goods from the Russian Federation. Not later than 30 days after enactment, the President is directed to increase the rate of duty on all goods imported from the Russian Federation, including oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, petroleum, petroleum products, petrochemical products, coal, and coal products, to a rate of up to 500 percent ad valorem.

    Section 113, duties on countries that purchase Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas or facilitate sanctions evasion. Not later than 30 days after enactment, the President is directed to increase the rate of duty on all goods imported from a country described in that section to a rate of up to 100 percent ad valorem. The United States Trade Representative may modify or adjust the rate for such a country to any rate greater than zero and up to 100 percent ad valorem. The section describes covered countries by conduct, purchasing Russian-origin crude oil or natural gas or facilitating sanctions evasion, rather than by name.

    Section 115, waiver. The President may waive the application of these provisions on submitting a certification that the waiver is in the national interests of the United States.

    Ad valorem means the duty is a percentage of the customs value of the goods. For any importer whose supply chain touches a country that ends up described under Section 113, that turns the customs value declared on the entry into the base for a duty that could run as high as the value of the goods themselves.

    What the House is voting on

    The Senate amendments as passed, with no changes. That point matters because of the amendments that have been reported in coverage of the bill.

    Six amendments were submitted to the House Rules Committee. Amendment 1, sponsored by Representatives Hoyer and Kaptur, would list specific countries as not exempt from the Section 113 duties: the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of India, the Republic of Türkiye, the Republic of Azerbaijan, Hungary, the Slovak Republic, the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Singapore, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz Republic. Amendment 2, led by Representative Meeks, would strike the broad secondary tariff section entirely. Three further Meeks amendments would clarify that the European Union is not a country for purposes of the secondary tariffs, tighten the waiver standard to cases vital to the national security of the United States, and authorize 15 billion dollars in foreign military financing for Ukraine. Amendment 6, from Representative Pettersen, would strike Section 115, the waiver authority.

    None of the six was made in order. The committee record shows the Democratic motions to make amendments in order defeated 3 to 7, and the rule reported 7 to 3 on September 14. The Rules Committee page lists every amendment with the status Submitted. The rule adopted on September 15 waives points of order against the Senate amendments and provides one hour of debate on the motion to concur. The country list in Amendment 1 is therefore not part of the text before the House. Under the Senate text, which countries are covered is a determination made under Section 113 after enactment.

    Where the Administration stands

    The Office of Management and Budget issued a Statement of Administration Policy on July 28, 2026 supporting passage of the Senate amendment. The statement says that if the Senate amendment were presented to the President in its current form, his advisors would recommend he sign it into law. It cites the bill’s sanctions on Russian officials and financial institutions, the five-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, and, in the Administration’s words, full Presidential discretion on waivers.

    What has not happened

    • The House has not, in the official record available at publication, agreed to the motion to concur.
    • The bill has not been presented to the President and has not been signed.
    • No duty under Section 112 or Section 113 is in effect. Both sections run on a clock that starts at enactment, and both give the President up to 30 days after that date to act.
    • No country has been described or designated under Section 113. The names in Amendment 1 are a proposal that the rule did not make in order.

    Any account that describes a 100 percent tariff on goods from China, India, or Türkiye as in force is ahead of the record.

    Why this belongs next to the 2026 customs enforcement order

    The June 3, 2026 executive order directs CBP to tighten who may act as Importer of Record and what that party must demonstrate, including a 50 percent minimum penalty floor. H.R. 5334 works on a different lever, the rate of duty, but it lands on the same party. The Importer of Record is the party that owes the duty on the entry. A duty of up to 100 percent ad valorem on all goods from a covered country is owed by whoever holds that role, whether that is the importing company itself, a supplier filing under a delivered duty paid arrangement, or a nonresident entity. The two developments together are why the question of who holds the Importer of Record role, and whether that party can carry the bond and the duty, is worth settling from the paperwork rather than assuming.

    This site will update this post and the tracker page as the House vote, presentment, and any Section 113 determinations are recorded.

    Sources