Canadian Tariff List Changes October 30. What the Order Says About Building Materials

On October 23, 2026, President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation that changes which Canadian products carry the additional 50 percent tariff. The change applies to goods entered on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern on October 30, 2026. The order takes 22 tariff lines off the list and puts 100 on it. The rate stays at 50 percent. The list is what changes.

This article walks through what the order says about building materials, in the order's own words where it matters. It gives no opinion on the policy and no guess at what any material will cost, because the order sets a tariff list and not prices. Nothing in the order touches contractor licensing. The last section is for contractors who are weighing work in more than one state, and our multi-state licensing and reciprocity page is the place to start.

At a glance

• What: a proclamation under section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 that changes the list of Canadian products carrying the additional 50 percent duty first set on July 20, 2026.
• Signed: October 23, 2026.
• Starts: for goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern on October 30, 2026.
• Coming off: 22 tariff lines, including seven lines of plywood sheets not over 6 mm thick.
• Going on: 100 tariff lines, including acrylic and vinyl paints and varnishes, caulking compounds and mastics, carpets and other floor coverings, vinyl flooring, assembled wood flooring panels, window and wall air conditioners, and hand-operated iron and steel valves.
• Also stated: the duties apply in addition to section 232 duties, and the White House says they apply whether or not a good qualifies under the USMCA.

The order changes the list, not the rate

The proclamation modifies the additional 50 percent duty that Proclamation 11048 of July 20, 2026 imposed on certain Canadian products, as amended. Section 338 lets the President set additional duties of up to 50 percent. The order keeps the 50 percent and moves products on and off the list.

It is the latest change to the list. Proclamation 11048 took effect on August 19, 2026, was suspended for three days by Proclamation 11056, and became effective at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on August 22. Proclamation 11065 of September 8 changed the list effective September 15. It took Portland cement (other than white cement) off, and it put iron or steel columns, pillars, posts, beams and girders, and aluminum profiles, bars, rods, tubes and pipes on. The October order modifies the list as that September order left it.

What comes off the list

Part A of the order's first annex is headed "Products No Longer Covered by Section 338 Tariffs." It has 22 tariff lines.

Seven of them are plywood sheets, and every one is described as plywood sheets not over 6 mm thick (HTS 4412.33.06, 4412.33.26, 4412.33.32, 4412.33.57, 4412.34.26, 4412.34.32 and 4412.34.57). Plywood thicker than 6 mm does not appear in Part A. Roofing Contractor warns that contractors and suppliers should not assume all Canadian plywood or roof decking qualifies for the removal.

The rest of Part A is mostly packaging, paper and machinery. That means plastic boxes, cases, crates, sacks and bags, corrugated cartons, paper sacks and bags, articles of paper pulp, and coated paper and paperboard. It also means refrigerating or freezing equipment, industrial machinery for treating materials by a change in temperature, and packing, filling and produce sorting machinery.

What goes on the list

Part B is headed "New Products Covered by Section 338 Tariffs." It has 100 tariff lines. The building related ones fall into five groups.

• Paints and finishes: "paints and varnishes (including enamels and lacquers) based on acrylic or vinyl polymers in a nonaqueous medium" (3208.20.00), and "glaziers' putty, grafting putty, resin cements, caulking compounds and other mastics; painters' fillings" (3214.10.00).
• Wood and board: coniferous wood continuously shaped along any of its ends (4409.10.05), MDF 5 mm or less thick (4411.12.10 and 4411.12.90), fiberboard of a density exceeding 0.8 g/cm3 that is not mechanically worked or surface covered (4411.92.10), assembled wood flooring panels (4418.75.70), and builders' joinery and carpentry other than drilled or notched lumber studs (4418.91.91).
• Floor coverings: vinyl flooring, excluding vinyl tile (3918.10.20); floor covering and mats of noncellular vulcanized rubber (4016.91.00); and 43 lines for carpets, rugs and other textile floor coverings in chapter 57, including carpet tiles of felt and coir floor coverings.
• Polyurethanes: elastomeric polyurethanes in primary forms (3909.50.10).
• Equipment and hardware: self-contained window or wall type air conditioning machines (8415.10.30), chest type freezers not over 800 liters (8418.30.00), electromechanical hand tools other than drills or saws (8467.29.00), and hand-operated taps, cocks and valves of iron or steel for pipes, boiler shells, tanks and vats (8481.80.30).

The rest of the 100 lines are not building products. They include 13 cocoa powder lines, shampoo, soap, lubricating preparations, laboratory reagents, canoes and archery equipment. Roofing Contractor notes that some of the building related additions could cover roofing, waterproofing or building envelope products, depending on the HTS code.

Check the code, not the product name

The order is written by tariff code. Annex I says its product descriptions "are provided for informational purposes only and are not intended to delimit in any way the scope of the action," and that questions about the scope of a particular provision "should be referred to U.S. Customs and Border Protection."

Roofing Contractor tells importers and contractors to verify classifications with suppliers or customs professionals instead of relying on general product descriptions. The order also says it applies in addition to section 232 duties, and how the two work together on a given product is a question for a customs broker.

What contractors are reading about bids

The order itself says nothing about bids or contracts. Roofing Contractor's July 24, 2026 report on the original order quoted a construction attorney with advice for contractors. For new work, the attorney recommended considering material-substitution clauses, which let the contractor propose domestic or alternative products if a specified Canadian material becomes unavailable or "prohibitively expensive," and price-escalation provisions for cost increases beyond a set threshold. For existing contracts, the attorney advised reviewing the language and telling the owner or design professional if pricing or availability could be affected. Recovery of extra costs depends on each agreement's terms.

That is one attorney's advice as the trade press reported it, not ours. Your own attorney can say how it applies to your contracts.

If you are weighing work in more than one state

The tariff order does not change who may bid or work in any state. A contractor who is looking again at which jobs to bid might look past a home state. If that is you, each state board sets its own requirements, so check them before you price a job in a state where you are not licensed.

Our multi-state licensing and reciprocity page covers which states accept the NASCLA exam, how reciprocity works, and how a licensed qualifying agent can qualify a company with a state board in states where the company has no qualifier. A state board decides every application, and approval is never a promise.

An owner with the experience can qualify the company personally. A company whose owner does not yet have the experience or the exams can be qualified by a licensed qualifying agent who is a real employee of the company. Contractor qualifier services explains how The Licensing Company helps with that.

Frequently asked questions

Does the October 23 order change the 50 percent rate? No. It changes which Canadian products are on the list. The 50 percent additional duty from Proclamation 11048 stays.

When does the change start? For goods entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern on October 30, 2026. The entry date decides which list applies.

Is plywood coming off the tariff list? Some is. Seven lines of plywood sheets not over 6 mm thick come off. Plywood thicker than 6 mm is not in the removal list.

Which building materials are going on the list? Acrylic and vinyl paints and varnishes, caulking compounds and mastics, several MDF and fiberboard lines, and continuously shaped coniferous wood. Also assembled wood flooring panels, vinyl and rubber flooring, 43 carpet and textile floor covering lines, window and wall air conditioners, and hand-operated iron and steel valves, among others.

Does the order say what materials will cost? No. The order sets a tariff list. It does not set or predict prices.

Does the tariff apply to goods that qualify under the USMCA? The White House fact sheet says the section 338 duties apply whether or not a good qualifies under the USMCA.

Is this a contractor licensing change? No. The order is about tariffs. It does not change any state's licensing rules.

This article is general information about a federal order, not legal, tax or customs advice. A customs broker, U.S. Customs and Border Protection or your own attorney can confirm how the order applies to a specific product or contract.

Marshall Schofield, one of the nation's leading contractor exam prep instructors, has helped thousands upon thousands of contractors get licensed. Jeremiah Jaskulski is a licensed contractor who has lived the licensing process across multiple states. Together they founded The Licensing Company, and they help contractors get licensed the right way nationwide. Sources: White House proclamation, October 23, 2026, Annex I, Annex II, White House fact sheet, October 23, 2026, Proclamation 11065, Federal Register document 2026-18839, Roofing Contractor, October 28, 2026, Roofing Contractor, July 24, 2026, and Construction Dive, October 27, 2026.