Two pools per product class — and why a country can be blocked before the quota is full
Canada administers each of the 23 product classes as two separate quotas:
- Non-FTA countries — a quota set at 20% of 2024 import volumes, shared by every country Canada has no free trade agreement with (China, India, Taiwan, Türkiye and others).
- FTA partners (excluding CUSMA) — a quota set at 75% of 2024 volumes, shared by Canada's free-trade partners outside North America — including the United Kingdom, the EU, South Korea and others. CUSMA partners (US, Mexico) are exempt entirely.
Inside each quota there is also a maximum single-country share (shown on every line below). Once a country reaches its cap, its imports pay the surtax even though the overall quota still has tonnage left for other countries. Expand any line's country breakdown to see who is using the quota — and who has already hit their cap.
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Steel grade directory — which Canadian import quota does your grade fall under?
Engineers buy EN3B, EN19 or S355 — not "product class 13". This directory maps the grades used in workshops to the Canadian TRQ product class they are imported under, by product form. Note the Canadian measure covers semi-finished stainless only (ingots, billets and blooms) — finished stainless bar and sheet are not among the 23 classes. Classification always depends on the exact HS tariff code — confirm with your customs broker.
Get a free alert before a Canadian quota runs out
We'll email you when the Canadian steel quotas you care about approach the 50% surtax threshold — including the FTA pool UK exporters ship under. You'll get a confirmation email first, and you can unsubscribe any time.