How Much Is Duty from China to Canada? 2026 Guide with Examples

Short answer: Canada has no free trade agreement with China, so Chinese goods pay Canada’s regular duty, the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) rate: 0% on laptops and most electronics, 6.5% to 9.5% on household goods and furniture, up to 18% on clothing. On top of that, steel and aluminum from China pay a 25% surtax, many products carry anti-dumping duty, and every shipment pays GST (5%).

Four things decide the bill: the tariff classification, where the goods were made (not shipped from), their value for duty, and whether they are steel, aluminum or on an anti-dumping list.

1. Customs duty: the MFN rate, no discount

China gets the MFN rate on every tariff item. There is no preferential rate to claim, so no certificate of origin will lower the duty. Typical MFN rates on goods Canadians buy from China:

Your own item can differ by the 8th digit: look it up in the HS code directory.

2. Surtaxes on Chinese steel and aluminum

Canada’s surtaxes are charged on the value for duty, on top of the MFN duty. In force on November 8, 2026:

• Steel and aluminum from China — 25% (China Surtax Order, SOR/2024-202), since October 15, 2024.
• Steel melted and poured in China — 25% (SOR/2025-154), since October 1, 2025, even when the product was finished in another country. Ask your supplier for the mill certificate: it shows where the steel was melted and poured.
• Steel derivative products — 25% (SOR/2025-267), since November 1, 2025, on downstream steel goods such as screws and bolts, from every country except Canada.
• Steel above the quota — 50% (SOR/2025-148), for steel imported beyond the tariff-rate quota.

A good pays one of these surtaxes, not all of them: since August 1, 2025 they no longer stack. Which one applies follows the order of precedence in CBSA’s notices; the calculator picks it for you. More detail in the China surtax guide.

Electric vehicles: the 100% surtax on Chinese EVs was repealed on March 1, 2026 (SOR/2026-33). Chinese EVs now pay the MFN duty of 6.1%, within an import quota that requires a Global Affairs Canada import permit.

3. Anti-dumping and countervailing duty (SIMA)

Many Chinese products — steel plate, fasteners, pipe, aluminum extrusions and more — are subject to SIMA duties when the CITT has found that dumped or subsidized imports injure Canadian producers. These duties come on top of MFN and surtax, and can exceed 100% of the value. Rates depend on the exporter: a named exporter with a normal value from CBSA can pay far less than the "all other exporters" rate. Check every Chinese steel or aluminum product against the SIMA list before you order.

4. GST, HST and provincial tax

Tax is charged on the value for duty + duty + surtax + SIMA duty:

• A business importing goods for its activity pays GST 5% at the border. In Ontario and the Atlantic provinces, a GST/HST-registered business accounts for the provincial part of the HST itself, and usually recovers both as input tax credits.
• A person importing for personal use pays the full rate at the border: HST of 13% to 15%, or GST plus the provincial tax — see the provincial tax guide.

5. Small shipments: CA$20

There is no CUSMA threshold for goods from China. A shipment by courier or Canada Post is free of duty and tax only up to CA$20 (CA$60 for a gift sent by mail). Above that, duty and tax apply to the whole value. Details in the de minimis guide.

Made in China, shipped from somewhere else

Duty follows the country of origin, not the country the goods are shipped from. Chinese-made goods bought from a US distributor pay the MFN rate and the China surtaxes, not the CUSMA rate — see duty from the US to Canada. The reverse also holds: a product genuinely made in Vietnam or Japan from Chinese parts can have another origin, but steel melted and poured in China keeps its 25% surtax wherever it is finished.

Five worked examples

Commercial imports of CA$10,000 each, GST at the border; rates computed by the TariffCalc engine on November 8, 2026.

1. Wooden furniture (9403.60.10)

• Duty 9.5%: $950
• GST 5% on $10,950: $547.50
• Total duty and tax: $1,497.50

2. Cotton T-shirts (6109.10.00)

• Duty 18%: $1,800
• GST 5% on $11,800: $590
• Total: $2,390 — the same T-shirts made in Japan and qualifying under the CPTPP pay $0 duty: see duty from Japan to Canada

3. Laptops (8471.30.00)

• Duty: $0
• GST 5%: $500
• Total: $500

4. Welded steel pipe (7306.30.00)

• Duty: $0
• China steel surtax 25%: $2,500
• GST 5% on $12,500: $625
• Total: $3,125, before any SIMA duty that applies to the exporter

5. An electric car, CA$40,000 (8703.80.00)

• Duty 6.1%: $2,440
• GST 5% on $42,440: $2,122
• Total: $4,562, with a quota import permit. Federal excise also applies to vehicles: $100 for air conditioning and, on fuel-hungry models, the green levy.

Costs that are not duty

Freight, insurance, the broker’s fee and the courier’s disbursement fee are not government charges, but they belong in your landed cost. Whether freight is in the value for duty depends on your Incoterm and the valuation method.

Get the exact figure for your product

Enter your product or tariff item, China as country of origin and your province in the TariffCalc calculator: it applies the MFN rate, detects the steel and aluminum surtaxes and any SIMA measure, and adds the right tax. Not sure of the code? Start with the HS code directory.