Invest in Hamilton

September saw a number of new tariffs and counter-tariffs come into effect as the Canada-United States trade relationship continued to face challenges.

As American tariffs on importing Canadian finished goods, dairy products, and alcohol began on September 8, 2026, the Government of Canada announced a series of counter tariffs valued at approximately $27.6 billion. These tariffs apply to U.S. imports of steel, dairy products, appliances, paper and pulp products, agricultural equipment, and electronics from the United States. A complete list of products subject to counter tariffs is available through the Government of Canada.

In response to these counter tariffs, the United States announced a number of Canadian import bans and revised the Section 338 tariff schedules. These updated tariffs came into effect on September 15, 2026. The import bans include Canadian motor vehicle products, alcohol, and various dairy and protein products. These bans came into force on September 29, 2026.

As we reflect on the recently announced layoffs at Stelco, Economic Development staff continue to work on measuring the broad scope of local impacts within this changing situation. In the near term, it is estimated that 12% of Hamilton’s goods-producing businesses could face impacts from the United States’ tariffs. This calculation was based on mapping the 554 harmonized system codes covered by the Section 338 tariffs (which are used to categorize products, be they inputs required to make a finished good, or the finished good, itself) on to the industry codes where those products are typically required for production. In subsequent updates, staff will use this process to review counter tariffs and import bans.

The University of Toronto has also revised its tariff mapping exercise, originally published in October 2025, to reflect tariffs that came into effect as of September 29, 2026. This analysis identifies 11.4% of residents living in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area, which includes Grimsby and Burlington, as working in industries that are exposed to tariffs. This is a slight increase from the 10.4% that was reported in their tariff mapping before Section 338 tariffs.

The Economic Development team continues to be available to support all Hamilton businesses that are impacted by tariffs. For those businesses unable to source essential products from markets other than the United States, Economic Development staff can facilitate introductions to other orders of government to explore the potential for access to Canada’s tariff remission programs.

Economic Development’s Trade and Tariff Hub will always house the latest links to federal and provincial tariff response programs, including:

• The Regional Tariff Response Initiative, which provides financial assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises and now offers a liquidity assistance stream that provides up to $2 million of non-repayable funding for qualified businesses.
• The Protect Ontario Workers Employment Response Centres, which provide direct access to Employment Ontario services for workers impacted by tariffs.
• The Protect Ontario Financing Program has earmarked $1 billion dollars to provide support to Ontario businesses impacted by tariffs. The program covers businesses impacted by Section 232 Tariffs, Section 338 Tariffs, and U.S. import bans.
• The Ontario Trade Together Fund, which helps support trade diversification and inter-provincial trade.

Individuals who are impacted by tariff-related job losses can access additional support through the Government of Canada, as well as through existing Employment Ontario supports.