Tax & Trade Blog

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PROVISIONAL DUTIES ON FIBRE TABLEWARE

CBSA IMPOSES PROVISIONAL DUTIES ON THERMOFORMED MOLDED FIBRE TABLEWARE

On February 27, 2026, the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) released a notice of its preliminary determination of dumping and subsidizing in respect of thermoformed molded fibre tableware originating in or exported from China (the “Subject Goods”).

Provisional duties are now imposed on imports of the Subject Goods released by the CBSA on or after February 27, 2026!

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DIRECT SELLING & CONSUMER PROTECTION

REGULAR REVIEW FOR COMPLIANCE WITH PROVINCIAL RULES RECOMMENDED

Provinces and Territories across Canada have consumer protection laws in place to protect consumers purchasing elsewhere than at a traditional retail store. Among other things, these laws set out certain informational disclosure requirements in sales contracts/order forms of direct selling companies (“DS Contracts”).

Recently there has been an uptick in enforcement action by provincial regulators concerned about DS Contracts which don’t comply with their laws. It is advisable for businesses to review their own contracts for compliance before the regulators come knocking!

Failure to comply with these requirements may grant consumers increased cancellation rights or may result in the regulator imposing fines against the business!

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BEST PRACTICES FOR FORCED LABOUR REPORTING

CANADA PUBLISHED BEST PRACTICES ADVICE FOR FORCED LABOUR REPORTING

As we wrote here, Canada joined the United Kingdom and Australia last year in adopting a joint global reporting template for forced labour and child labour disclosures. The new template consolidates the legislative reporting requirements of all three countries and is intended to simplify reporting for organizations operating across multiple jurisdictions.

In practice, Canadian reporting entities often face challenges in producing properly scoped reports that align with Public Safety Canada’s expectations. In response, Public Safety Canada (“PSC”) has published "Best Practices" tips and updated resources, aimed at improving report quality and supporting ongoing compliance under the Supply Chains Act.

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TRUMP'S NEW TARIFFS - NOT HURTING CANADA?

TRUMP TARIFFS DO NOT APPLY TO CUSMA GOODS

Much of the current commentary surrounding the new US tariff measures has overlooked a central point – namely, that broad-based US tariff actions do NOT apply to Canadian-origin goods that properly qualify under CUSMA.

There are certainly some exceptions like in militarily strategic sectors (like steel and aluminum) and in sensitive economic sectors (like automotives and lumber) but the wider narrative suggesting sweeping tariff exposure for Canadian exports to the US is probably overstated. We provide additional insight below.

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BATTLE WON BUT TRADE WAR NOT OVER?

US SUPREME COURT RULES INITIAL ROUND OF IEEPA TARIFFS UNLAWFUL

In a major development of the Canada-US Trade War (the “Trade War”), the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) in its decision of Learning Resources, Inc. et al. v. Trump, No. 24–1287 (“Learning Resources”), ruled that President Trump’s initial round of tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”) targeting Canada, Mexico and China are unlawful.

In this report, we provide a brief review of SCOTUS’ decision in Learning Resources, along with some implications for the Trade War moving forward, including President Trump’s potential response.