August 2025: copper at 50%, the non-CUSMA rate to 35%, and the end of de minimis

Dated entry. This covers 31 August 2025 and has not been updated since. Tariff rules change constantly and some of this will have been superseded — check the official sources before acting on it.

Three separate changes landed in August 2025, the heaviest month of the year for cross-border rules.

1 August brought a 50% tariff on semi-finished copper products and copper-intensive derivatives. It applied to copper content only and did not stack. Copper inputs and scrap were exempt.

The same day, the US tariff on non-CUSMA Canadian goods rose from 25% to 35%, with 40% for goods found to have been transshipped to dodge it. CUSMA-compliant goods stayed exempt — again making paperwork the whole game.

Then on 29 August, de minimis ended. The US$800 duty-free threshold was suspended for every country. Postal shipments moved to a six-month schedule: either an ad valorem duty at the applicable effective rate, or a specific duty of US$80 to US$200 per item, with only the ad valorem option surviving after six months. The traveller allowance (US$200) and gifts under US$100 were untouched.

What it meant for freight: for e-commerce parcels, 29 August 2025 is the date the landed-cost maths changed.