New 35% U.S. Tariff on Canadian Honey Despite USMCA/CUSMA Exemption

We can no longer ship our USMCA/CUSMA-compliant honey, produced and packaged on our Canadian farm, to the U.S. without paying a new 35% tariff on Canadian goods. The reasons are complicated, but here they are:

Background

As many of our customers know, we are a honey farm located in rural Canada, on the Manitoba–Saskatchewan border. Since 2011, we have packaged the finest honey our bees produce each year and sold it through our website to customers across North America. The only reliable individual package delivery service in MacNutt, Saskatchewan, is CanadaPost.

Canadian honey enjoyed duty-free status under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its successor, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA in the U.S.; CUSMA in Canada). Under USMCA/CUSMA, Canadian honey, verified by a Certificate of Origin from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), is exempt from duties when exported to the U.S. For smaller packages (under $800 USD) shipped to individuals, the de minimis exemption of the 1930 Tariff Act also waived duties. The de minimis exemption applied to most low-value packages arriving to the U.S. by mail or courier from almost anywhere.

For our e-commerce sales to American consumers, we complete a Prior Notice customs form using our FDA account, and shipments (usually) proceeded smoothly. For larger shipments by truck to U.S. retailers, we schedule a visit from a CFIA inspector (located 260 km/160 miles from our farm) to inspect the shipment and issue a Certificate of Origin for CFIA-inspected Canadian honey, which then was exempt from duty at the U.S. border.

All this changed on August 29, 2025, when Executive Order 14324 came into force.

Executive Order 14324

Executive Order 14324 invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), imposing a 35% ad valorem duty on all Canadian goods not exempt under USMCA/CUSMA while removing the de minimis exemption. Since August 29, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) appears to treat all Canadian packages as subject to the 35% tariff unless proven otherwise. Canadian shippers can apply for USMCA/CUSMA duty exemptions at the border, but this can be impractical for small packages, and evidence that this process will be smooth or reliable is lacking.

Executive Order 14324 does not specify the threat, and the duties on Canadian goods appear to lack a legal basis. In May 2025, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that tariffs imposed under IEEPA were unlawful, a decision upheld in August. However, the duties remain in place as the case proceeds to the Supreme Court in November 2025.

Wendell Estate Honey’s Situation

CanadaPost lacks the infrastructure to process USMCA/CUSMA duty exemptions, so it uses the Zonos app to collect pre-paid duties on all U.S.-bound packages. Zonos charges the 35% duty, plus a 3.5% processing fee and $1.99 CAD. Although Canadian honey is exempt under USMCA/CUSMA, the duty and fees must still be paid before CanadaPost will ship the package.

Obtaining a Certificate of Origin for small packages is unfeasible. The CFIA inspector must travel nearly three hours one way to inspect a shipment, and each certificate includes the recipient’s address. This works for truckloads but not for individual jars of honey. Even with a Certificate of Origin, uncertainty persists. CBC News reported one Canadian exporter charged with duties ranging from 26.4% to 186% on identical $250-value USMCA/CUSMA-compliant shipments to his U.S. customers via UPS.

Refunds for inappropriate duties on exempt goods are theoretically possible but are not feasible for small shipments of honey due to the Certificate of Origin requirement.

What Now?

We have suspended shipments to U.S. addresses due to this unfortunate situation. Our honey was already expensive for American customers due to small-volume, fresh-during-harvest packaging and high shipping costs for heavy packages, even before this new duty. We’re grateful (and flattered) that our loyal customers value our unique honey, but we can’t imagine anyone paying an additional 40% beyond our current prices. We also believe no one should pay this inappropriate and likely illegal tariff.

If you live in the U.S. and urgently need our gourmet raw honey, and are willing to pay the excess duty and risk customs, email us at info@wendellestate.ca, and we’ll provide a quote based on duties and fees for your order.

Since March 2025, we’ve noticed increased delays for packages at the U.S. border, with some orders taking 3–4 weeks instead of the usual 1 to 2 weeks. Unfortunately, we cannot resolve these delays. We haven’t shipped to the U.S. since August 29, and while paying the tariff should ensure smooth customs clearance, we cannot guarantee this.

We hope this situation resolves quickly, ideally before the Supreme Court hearing in November. For U.S. customers not on our email list, we encourage you to sign up so you will be notified when we resume shipping to the U.S. (and for 5% off your first order).