Does China still have tariffs on Canadian lobster, pork and canola? What's paused until December 31, 2026

Short answer: Yes, on some products. China still charges its extra 100% tariff on Canadian canola oil and its extra 25% tariff on pork, shrimp and the other listed seafood, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The extra 100% on canola meal and peas and the extra 25% on lobster and crab are suspended from March 1 to December 31, 2026, under a State Council Tariff Commission announcement that doesn't say what applies after that. Canola seed pays a separate 5.9% anti-dumping duty on top of China's 9% MFN rate, a combined 14.9% according to Global Affairs Canada.

Status as of September 16, 2026

What was suspended on March 1

China's extra tariffs date from Tariff Commission Announcement No. 3 of 2025, effective March 20, 2025: 100% on canola oil, oil cakes and peas, and 25% on aquatic products and pork. Each group is a list of eight-digit Chinese tariff lines, not a general product category.

On February 27, 2026, the Tariff Commission issued Announcement No. 2 of 2026, which stops collecting those tariffs on 16 lines from March 1 to December 31, 2026. The annex names two canola meal lines, four pea lines, and every lobster and crab line from the 2025 list, five of each. Shrimp and prawns are not on it. The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) adjusted its anti-discrimination measures for the same period in Announcement No. 13 of 2026, citing the Preliminary Joint Arrangement with Canada and Canada's partial adjustment of its steel and aluminum measures.

What is still charged

• Canola oil, pork and the other listed seafood. The two canola oil lines, all 15 pork lines and 39 of the 49 seafood and fish oil lines on the 2025 lists are not in the 2026 suspension. MOFCOM's law database still lists the 2025 announcement as in force. That announcement also says existing bonded and tax-reduction policies stay in place, but the additional tariffs themselves are not reduced or waived. In a June 2026 Question Period note, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) says Ottawa will keep engaging China on canola oil, pork and other fish and seafood.
• Canola seed. Its tariff comes from a separate anti-dumping case, not the 2025 list. MOFCOM's final determination sets a 5.9% duty for all Canadian companies for five years from March 1, 2026. Global Affairs Canada says the combined applied rate is 14.9%, down from almost 85%.
• Pea starch. Peas are in the suspension, but pea starch is its own case. In a preliminary determination, MOFCOM found dumping and, from July 1, 2026, requires a 73.5% deposit on unmodified pea starch (tariff line 11081900) from all Canadian companies. The investigation has been extended to February 12, 2027.

What ends December 31, and what doesn't

Both the Tariff Commission's suspension and MOFCOM's Announcement No. 13 run to December 31, 2026, and neither says what applies from January 1, 2027. The 2025 announcement that set the tariffs has no end date.

The date that counts is the customs declaration date in China, not the shipping date in Canada. Under Art. 20 of China's Tariff Law, goods pay the rate in force on the day the import declaration is completed. If customs approves a declaration before the goods arrive, the rate is the one in force on the day the ship or other carrier declares entry. Goods held in bonded storage and later sold into China follow a different rule: they pay the rate in force on the day tax formalities are completed (Art. 21).

Two measures don't end on December 31: the canola seed duty, which runs for five years, and the pea starch investigation, which MOFCOM can now run until February 12, 2027. Check the base rates too. The provisional rates in the next section come from China's 2026 tariff adjustment plan, issued on December 26, 2025 and in effect from January 1, 2026, so recheck them for anything declared in 2027.

How the layers add up

Canada has no free trade agreement with China. The China FTA Network lists China-Canada only among FTAs under study. Canadian goods therefore pay China's most-favoured-nation (MFN) rate, or the lower provisional rate where one exists (Tariff Law, Art. 13). Under the 2025 announcement, the extra tariff is charged on the same dutiable value on top of that applied rate, and import VAT is assessed separately. Three examples from China's 2026 provisional rate table:

Beyond tariffs

According to Global Affairs Canada, China resumed beef market access for 20 registered Canadian meat establishments as of January 15, 2026. Market access doesn't mean normal duty rates, though. Under a safeguard in MOFCOM Announcement No. 87 of 2025, in force from 2026 through 2028, Canada has no beef quota of its own and shares China's quota for "other countries and regions": 172,000 tonnes in 2026. Two days after that quota is filled, beef starts paying an extra 55% on top of the applied rate. MOFCOM has posted notices as country quotas reached 90% and 100%.

Access can also stop for technical reasons: AAFC's note says two Canadian soybean exporters were suspended by China as of February 27, 2026, over a plant health issue. Registering your facility with China's customs authority is a separate step, covered in our guide to GACC registration for Canadian food.

What this means for your business

1. Confirm your eight-digit Chinese tariff line with your importer or customs broker. All three annexes say product names are for reference only; the tariff line decides coverage.
2. Check it against every list: the 2025 100% list and 25% list, and the 2026 suspension list.
3. If your tariff line is on a 2025 list but not on the suspension list, as canola oil, pork, shrimp and prawns, clams, sea cucumbers, Greenland halibut and fish oil are, quote with the extra tariff included, because today it applies. Seafood on neither list, such as frozen Atlantic salmon or cod, doesn't pay the extra 25%.
4. If you're on the suspension list, plan around the declaration date. Goods declared in China after December 31, 2026 fall outside the current announcements, so build transit and clearance time into late-year orders.
5. Agree with your buyer on who pays if the rate changes before the goods clear customs.
6. Watch the official sources: MOFCOM's announcement list, the Tariff Commission's notices on the Ministry of Finance website, and Global Affairs Canada.

How QX can help

Tariff classification, duty calculations and customs clearance run through your Chinese importer and customs broker, and market access questions through AAFC and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Tariffs decide what your product costs when it lands; QX works on whether Chinese buyers and consumers understand it, find it and get in touch. We map where your product fits in China, prepare your Chinese-language brand and product materials, and run your Xiaohongshu, WeChat and Douyin accounts. Start with a free 20-minute consultation and leave with a clear direction and a practical next step for your product.