US plastic bags and tableware are among the goods facing the top 50% rate on Canada’s counter-tariff list, which took effect Sept. 8. The list covers CA$27.6 billion (nearly USD 20 billion) of US goods at rates of 15%, 25% or 50%.
The 50% rate applies to these plastic products:
polyethylene bags (HS 3923.21.90)
plastic tableware and kitchenware (HS 3924.10.00)
other plastic household articles (HS 3924.90.00)
Molds used to make plastic, metal and rubber products face 15%, per Supply Chain Dive.
The Canadian importer pays the duty at the border. A Canadian food or consumer goods maker that buys bags or plastic housewares from a US supplier now decides whether to absorb the 50% duty or qualify a supplier outside the US.
General Mills cited the new Canadian tariffs on its first-quarter call as one reason it now expects input-cost inflation at the high end of its 4% to 5% range for fiscal 2027. CFO Kofi Bruce also named higher spot prices for freight, grains and packaging during the quarter.
Packaging makers were already paying more for materials. Producer prices for plastic resins rose about 11% from April to May after the Strait of Hormuz closed, then fell about 10% by August, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Plastic bag prices were still 6% above a year earlier in August, just below their July level.
Canada’s list matches the 50% tariff the US put on about $20 billion of Canadian goods under Section 338, in effect since late August. That US tariff also applies to goods that meet USMCA rules. About 20% of the roughly $15 billion two-way US-Canada plastics trade is exposed to it, Rabobank’s Jim Owen estimated in a recent report cited by Supply Chain Dive.
“We spent 30 years making this a well-oiled machine with free trade on plastic and molds and resins and additives,” Owen said.
Canadian importers have started running trial shipments from EU suppliers in small lots, per The Loadstar. Steffen Manz, CEO of Speed Global Logistics, said consumer packaged goods, industrial manufacturing and auto components are leading the push. He expects less cross-border trucking and more inbound ocean volume at the ports of Montreal, Saint John and Halifax.
