June 2026: forced-labour findings, and a significant rework of the metals regime

Dated entry. This covers 30 June 2026 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 Tariff rules change constantly and some of this will have been superseded — check the official sources before acting on it.

On 2 June 2026 the USTR announced Section 301 findings covering 60 economies including Canada, for failing to ban or enforce bans on forced-labour imports. Proposed rates were 10% for economies with a ban or a commitment to one, and 12.5% for the rest.

On 8 June a further proclamation reworked the metals regime, and several changes went Canada’s way:

• Tariffs on agricultural machinery and residential HVAC cut from 25% to 15%, with 15% extended to certain mobile industrial equipment.
• US-origin metal content required for preferential treatment cut from 95% to 85%.
• For CUSMA-compliant Canadian and Mexican products, the 25% rate applied only to non-US content, with a floor of 15% ad valorem overall.
• Aluminum lithographic plates and steel racks added as derivatives.

The regime was set to run until 31 December 2027.

Separately, on 19 June, Canada placed a 10% provisional safeguard on canned vegetables from most countries — explicitly not the US, Mexico, Chile or Israel.