White House: Canada tariff changes take effect Oct. 30

The White House said Friday that changes to its 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods, including the removal of plywood sheets, some paper products and certain machinery, will take effect Oct. 30, 2026.

The Oct. 23 fact sheet confirms what Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine announced earlier in the day, and it shows the order also adds new Canadian products to the tariff list. It comes 11 days before the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections.

Updated Oct. 23, 2026: the White House has now published the order. Our earlier report relied on Collins and media accounts.

President Donald Trump acted under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, modifying Proclamation 11048 as amended, according to the fact sheet. It said the product additions and removals “will take effect on October 30, 2026.” It gave no time of day.

The products removed from the list are plywood sheets, some paper products, certain machinery and refrigeration equipment, and certain packing crates and boxes. The products added are certain valves, carpets and waste products, along with others the fact sheet did not itemize in the version we reviewed. We did not see tariff rates or product codes for the added items, which are set out in the proclamation itself.

The fact sheet said the Section 338 tariffs apply whether or not a good qualifies under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, and that they apply on top of separate Section 232 tariffs. It said the new action builds on measures announced July 20 and modified Sept. 8, which the White House said responded to Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion of U.S. exports.

Collins said she had secured exemptions for nine product categories important to Maine producers of blueberries, potatoes, apples and seaweed. “Many of our farmers and growers rely on specialized equipment, packaging materials, and other products from Canada,” she said in a post on X, according to the BBC. She said she would keep pressing for more relief and a broader trade agreement with Canada.

Reuters, citing a Wall Street Journal report that relied on people familiar with the matter, said the changes were meant to help Collins and other Republicans in northern states, and that the reductions could be offset by higher levies on other Canadian goods. An official told the Journal that any tariff announcements would come from the administration, Reuters reported. The new additions to the list point to some offset, though the net effect on the value of goods covered has not been published.

Collins faces Democrat Troy Jackson in Maine. Reuters reported that Republicans will likely need to hold Michigan and Maine to keep control of the Senate.

Trump told reporters in Florida on Friday that Canada is “working very hard” on a trade deal, the BBC reported. Prime Minister Mark Carney, who is travelling in Turkey, has said Canada would wait months or longer for a proper agreement. “We could sign it this afternoon if the US were there,” Carney said, according to the BBC.

For Canadian exporters, the change is narrow. Plywood and paper makers and equipment suppliers named in the order may see relief from Oct. 30, while sellers of valves, carpets and waste products face new duties. Talks between Ottawa and Washington broke down in August, and both countries have since imposed new rounds of tariffs.

The dispute is also in court. A U.S. importer sued this week over the 50 per cent tariffs, and Ottawa and Ontario on Thursday unveiled an $8.7-billion plan for steel, autos and mining. Neither the Prime Minister’s Office nor Global Affairs Canada had commented on the new order in the reports we reviewed.

The changes take effect Oct. 30, four days before voters go to the polls.

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Sources: White House fact sheet, Reuters, BBC, CTV News. Photo: official portrait of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, U.S. Senate, public domain.