US tariffs on Canadian manufacturing
A plant that buys steel, aluminium or copper, or that ships a finished metal article into the United States, is on the Section 232 register. CUSMA origin on the finished good does not automatically clear the metal.
Working register. Rates on the desk were last checked on 26 August 2026. They are not yet signed off against the governing proclamation or CBP entry practice. Do not treat a rate here as advice to classify, enter, or protest.
What actually hits a manufacturer?
Section 232 is the usual instrument on steel, aluminium and copper, and on many metal-content derivatives. IEEPA and other authorities can sit on the same invoice if the finished good is not only metal. The first job is to split the catalogue, not to argue the headline rate.
A shop that machines US-bound parts from Canadian coil is not in the same file as a shop that assembles a finished consumer good with a steel fastener. Both can be “manufacturing.” Only one of them is a core 232 article.
Core article, derivative, or under the de minimis?
On the working register, core 232 metal articles stay under that authority even when the good originates. Listed derivatives can change the math when CUSMA origin is documented. Lines under the 15% metal de minimis are a different conversation.
For a $5M to $50M plant the first number is not the 50% on the proclamation. It is which SKUs are core, which are derivatives, and which sit under the 15% metal threshold. Mix those three and every surcharge in the ERP is wrong.
What to do this week
Pull the US-bound SKUs that carry metal. Mark each one core, derivative, or neither. Then run the calculator with your real COGS share and the rate you believe applies. You type the rate. Mirabilys does not classify the goods.
If you cannot name the importer of record on the US entry, stop there. Origin paper and a surcharge mean nothing until you know who files.
Factual answers
- Does a CUSMA certificate remove the 232 duty on steel I buy?
- Not on a core metal article. Origin does not waive Section 232 on steel, aluminium or copper. On a listed derivative, documented origin can change how the 25% is applied. Confirm the SKU against the annex before you promise a customer.
- We machine in Canada. Is that substantial transformation?
- Sometimes, for origin. It is not a waiver of 232 on the metal that went into the part. Do not treat a process change as a rate change until both questions are answered on the same SKU.
- Should I change the US price list this month?
- Not from a blended rate. Run the 40% pass-through case on the exposed COGS first. If the absorbed amount is a real EBITDA event, the price conversation is specific SKUs, not the whole book.
The register, the calculator, the certificate, the industries, and the mandate sit together. The old standalone calculator is not in this set.
The plant needs a split, not a headline
The register says which authority you are under. The calculator shows the shape of the hit. An exposure analysis sizes the real lines and the cash.