Duty and Tariff Impact US–Canada tariff war escalates — but it doesn’t change duties on goods from India
The United States and Canada are now in an open tariff conflict. The US has imposed tariffs of up to 50% on Canadian goods, and on 25 August 2026 Canada announced retaliatory countermeasures of up to 50% on a list of US products, together with support for affected Canadian workers and businesses. Prime Minister Mark Carney has described the situation in stark terms as a trade ‘war.’ This is a dispute between Canada and the United States: it applies to trade across the Canada–US border and does not change the duties Canada charges on goods imported from India.
Why it matters: For an India→Canada importer, your landed costs are unaffected by these measures — goods of Indian origin are still classified and dutied under Canada's normal (Most-Favoured-Nation) tariff, not the US countermeasures. The indirect effect is strategic: with its largest trading partner turning protectionist, Canada is pushing harder to diversify and has named India among the markets it wants to open. That pressure is part of what is driving both governments to try to conclude the India–Canada CEPA in 2026 — the channel through which any future tariff relief on Indian goods would actually arrive.
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