We take no side in the trade dispute between Canada and the United States. We read the list, because a buyer of bags has to live with it.
On August 22, 2026, the United States began collecting 50% duties on about US$20 billion of Canadian goods, a sum the law firm BLG puts at C$27.6 billion. On September 8, Canada’s counter-tariffs took effect: 15, 25 and 50% on C$27.6 billion of US goods.
The mechanism is narrower than the headlines. A tariff is charged on a tariff item, one numbered line of the customs schedule. The list published by the Department of Finance Canada, updated on August 26, has a line for item 3923.21.90: sacks and bags of polymers of ethylene, other. The rate on that line is 50. It applies to goods of US origin.
Three things set the bill: the item number, the country of origin, and the list in force on the day the goods cross.
On our lines, none of this shows. An extruder does not know which country it is in, and a good bag is a good bag on both sides of the border. What changes is the paperwork.
Jim Owen, a Rabobank analyst, told Packaging Dive that “there’s probably a lot of confusion.” His reason: “We spent 30 years making this a well-oiled machine with free trade on plastic and molds and resins and additives.” For thirty years, origin was a detail nobody had to write down. A list by item turns it into a required field.
One limit. The line we read covers bags. Resin and film sit under other headings of the schedule, and we could not confirm whether they are on the list. We make no claim for them. Each product has to be looked up under its own number.
What this changes for you. If you buy bags or film that cross the border, a spec sheet with gauge, size and count is no longer complete. Three more answers belong on it, in writing: where the product was made, which tariff item is declared, and which list applied on the date of crossing. Ask before the quote. The list is public, and it is dated.
