Everyone seems to have different info on the whole Tariff thing, so I dug a little deeper...
I think some of the confusion may be that there are 3 different Tariff lists;
March 4: The tariff code for pinball and arcade machines is listed, which means a 25% tariff is being applied.
March 13: These are additional tariff codes added to the March 4 list.
April 9: These are additional tariff codes added to the March 4 list.
I have imported tens of millions of dollars of merchandise from all over the world with Meeplemart so I have some experience with tariffs.
For people that are unfamiliar with Tariff's; tariffs are like a tax put on products when entering the country; similar to GST or HST. Trump's tariffs on Americans have absolutely no effect on Canadians. The Canadian government's current ("counter") tariffs are a tax on Canadians on US manufactured goods and have no effect on Americans. Just like the US, Canada has had tariffs in place for years on hundreds of thousands of products from all different countries all over the world that we import from. For example; Acrylic hobby paint has a 6.5% tariff when entering Canada, regardless as to what country it originates from.
However...
US tariffs on Chinese (and other countries) products or parts needed to manufacture US goods, can indirectly have an effect on Canadians because a product that used to cost $50US to manufacture in the US may now cost $75US. This usually results in the selling price of the item increasing, so the end user (American or Canadian) ends up paying more. So, a Canadian importing a US manufactured good, is kind of paying the US tariff on the part(s) manufactured in another country (because of the inflated price), before the Canadian imports it. That Canadian is then (possibly) paying another (Canadian) tariff because the good was manufactured in the US. Keep in mind, this is nothing new as this has been going on for decades.
It is very important to keep in mind, it is only the country of manufacture that matters, not where it is being sold (or designed); For example, a US distributor that is selling a product that is made in another country that the Canadian government does not have tariff's on, will not have any Canadian tariffs, even if bought in the US. Also important to note that traditionally, certain products may be tariffed from one country, but other products from the same country are not. Trump's tariffs are kind of "a big deal" because they are blanket tariffs that are not being applied to specific products, but rather all products from specific countries. I do not know much about tariffs historically, but I believe this has been done before by other countries in the past.
From my understanding, tariffs are/ were usually applied to products that a country already manufactures and/ or has an abundance of. Clothing is heavily tariffed when entering Canada because there are a lot of Canadian clothing companies that are able to manufacture clothing. Playing cards, same thing. Diary products are also commonly talked about a lot lately because Canada has a lot of dairy famers... Tariffs are applied to products to deter a countries population from buying a product manufactured somewhere, to buying a product manufactured somewhere else. (Example: A US tariff is applied on Canadian lumber to deter Americans from buying Canadian lumber and instead buy American lumber; because it is now cheaper.)
Sometimes, when an industry is heavily effected by tariffs or basically destroyed (like the NIB pinball machine/ arcade market at its current state), the government will refund the tariff (remission) because there is no alternate Canadian manufacturer to support the demand. The tariff's effect results in defeating the whole point in applying a tariff because you are not really creating a new industry (new Canadian pinball manufacturer), but rather destroying an existing one (arcade/ pinball distributors, arcades in Canada). Remember, tariffs are supposed to increase demand from one product to another, however if there is no alternative, you have killed the demand for one product, (pinball manufactured in the US) but there is no valid alternative (pinball manufactured in Canada). As an importer and retailer though, getting anything done quickly by the government and getting money back would probably be a nightmare to deal with, so it is very understandable for a pinball dealer to not want to deal with finding out in the remission (refund) even applies, never mind how to get back money.
So, to summarize; there is definitely a Canadian tariff on pinball and arcade machines manufactured in the US, although, the Canadian government, (realizing it screwed up in regards to the pinball/ arcade industry), may offer a refund of those tariffs in order to save the industry it is accidently destroying (pinball/ arcade machine NIB sales and arcades trying to get the machines.) I would not be surprised if this counter tariff is dropped very quickly by the Canadian government right after the election.
Please keep in mind; this all applies to companies importing products into Canada, however there is a (up to) $800 exemption for individuals based on travel/ time as well as a $50 exemption on shipped goods imported from the US. There is no exemption for companies importing. This is why some people may be able to buy stuff and import it without a tariff being applied and a company can not.
Finally, all of this is subject to the CBSA officer's discretion reviewing your imported goods. I myself have got in a number of discussions at the border with CBSA officers incorrectly applying a tariff because they applied an incorrect tariff code and/ or didn't understand what the product was.
Hope that helps.
I think some of the confusion may be that there are 3 different Tariff lists;
March 4: The tariff code for pinball and arcade machines is listed, which means a 25% tariff is being applied.
March 13: These are additional tariff codes added to the March 4 list.
April 9: These are additional tariff codes added to the March 4 list.
I have imported tens of millions of dollars of merchandise from all over the world with Meeplemart so I have some experience with tariffs.
For people that are unfamiliar with Tariff's; tariffs are like a tax put on products when entering the country; similar to GST or HST. Trump's tariffs on Americans have absolutely no effect on Canadians. The Canadian government's current ("counter") tariffs are a tax on Canadians on US manufactured goods and have no effect on Americans. Just like the US, Canada has had tariffs in place for years on hundreds of thousands of products from all different countries all over the world that we import from. For example; Acrylic hobby paint has a 6.5% tariff when entering Canada, regardless as to what country it originates from.
However...
US tariffs on Chinese (and other countries) products or parts needed to manufacture US goods, can indirectly have an effect on Canadians because a product that used to cost $50US to manufacture in the US may now cost $75US. This usually results in the selling price of the item increasing, so the end user (American or Canadian) ends up paying more. So, a Canadian importing a US manufactured good, is kind of paying the US tariff on the part(s) manufactured in another country (because of the inflated price), before the Canadian imports it. That Canadian is then (possibly) paying another (Canadian) tariff because the good was manufactured in the US. Keep in mind, this is nothing new as this has been going on for decades.
It is very important to keep in mind, it is only the country of manufacture that matters, not where it is being sold (or designed); For example, a US distributor that is selling a product that is made in another country that the Canadian government does not have tariff's on, will not have any Canadian tariffs, even if bought in the US. Also important to note that traditionally, certain products may be tariffed from one country, but other products from the same country are not. Trump's tariffs are kind of "a big deal" because they are blanket tariffs that are not being applied to specific products, but rather all products from specific countries. I do not know much about tariffs historically, but I believe this has been done before by other countries in the past.
From my understanding, tariffs are/ were usually applied to products that a country already manufactures and/ or has an abundance of. Clothing is heavily tariffed when entering Canada because there are a lot of Canadian clothing companies that are able to manufacture clothing. Playing cards, same thing. Diary products are also commonly talked about a lot lately because Canada has a lot of dairy famers... Tariffs are applied to products to deter a countries population from buying a product manufactured somewhere, to buying a product manufactured somewhere else. (Example: A US tariff is applied on Canadian lumber to deter Americans from buying Canadian lumber and instead buy American lumber; because it is now cheaper.)
Sometimes, when an industry is heavily effected by tariffs or basically destroyed (like the NIB pinball machine/ arcade market at its current state), the government will refund the tariff (remission) because there is no alternate Canadian manufacturer to support the demand. The tariff's effect results in defeating the whole point in applying a tariff because you are not really creating a new industry (new Canadian pinball manufacturer), but rather destroying an existing one (arcade/ pinball distributors, arcades in Canada). Remember, tariffs are supposed to increase demand from one product to another, however if there is no alternative, you have killed the demand for one product, (pinball manufactured in the US) but there is no valid alternative (pinball manufactured in Canada). As an importer and retailer though, getting anything done quickly by the government and getting money back would probably be a nightmare to deal with, so it is very understandable for a pinball dealer to not want to deal with finding out in the remission (refund) even applies, never mind how to get back money.
So, to summarize; there is definitely a Canadian tariff on pinball and arcade machines manufactured in the US, although, the Canadian government, (realizing it screwed up in regards to the pinball/ arcade industry), may offer a refund of those tariffs in order to save the industry it is accidently destroying (pinball/ arcade machine NIB sales and arcades trying to get the machines.) I would not be surprised if this counter tariff is dropped very quickly by the Canadian government right after the election.
Please keep in mind; this all applies to companies importing products into Canada, however there is a (up to) $800 exemption for individuals based on travel/ time as well as a $50 exemption on shipped goods imported from the US. There is no exemption for companies importing. This is why some people may be able to buy stuff and import it without a tariff being applied and a company can not.
Finally, all of this is subject to the CBSA officer's discretion reviewing your imported goods. I myself have got in a number of discussions at the border with CBSA officers incorrectly applying a tariff because they applied an incorrect tariff code and/ or didn't understand what the product was.
Hope that helps.
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