Customs duty from Canada to European Union: Import Duty Guide

Key Takeaways

• CETA has been in provisional application since 21 September 2017, giving roughly 98% of tariff lines duty-free treatment for qualifying goods.
• Despite nearly a decade of provisional application, CETA still hasn’t been permanently, fully ratified by every EU member state - a handful of national parliaments reportedly haven’t given final approval.
• For everyday shopping purposes this distinction rarely matters: qualifying goods already get 0% duty under provisional application regardless of full ratification status.
• CETA’s rules of origin cap non-originating materials at 50% (tightening toward 45%), with a special, more liberal 70% rule specifically for automotive goods.
• The main permanent exclusions from CETA’s duty-free coverage are agricultural tariff-rate-quota products like cheese, butter, and certain meats.

Canada-EU Trade at a Glance

EU-Canada bilateral goods trade reached approximately €81.5-82 billion in 2025. Canada is the EU’s 12th-largest trading partner, with the EU exporting around €48.8 billion to Canada and running a goods trade surplus of roughly €16 billion (Consilium, “EU-Canada trade: facts and figures”).

Is There a Trade Deal Between Canada and the EU?

Yes - CETA, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, has been in provisional application since 21 September 2017. This is a genuinely unusual situation worth understanding: “provisional application” means the agreement is actively in effect for the roughly 98% of tariff lines and provisions that fall under exclusive EU competence, even though full, permanent ratification requires approval by every individual EU member state’s national parliament - and that process remains incomplete nearly a decade later. Canada has completed its own ratification; on the EU side, most member states have ratified, but a handful reportedly have not yet given final national approval (Carleton University CETA Ratification Tracker). For everyday shopping and import purposes, this distinction rarely matters in practice - the duty-free treatment that provisional application already provides is real and current.

How Much Will You Pay Importing from Canada to the EU?

For genuinely Canadian-originating goods under CETA’s rules of origin (capping non-originating materials at 50%, tightening toward 45%, with a special more liberal 70% rule for automotive goods), customs duty is 0% for roughly 98% of tariff lines. This site’s product-level duty data was sourced primarily against the EU-Japan agreement, so the FTA column in the table below may under-represent CETA’s real (broad) coverage - check the specific commodity code if a product doesn’t show 0% here. The main confirmed exclusions are agricultural tariff-rate-quota products like cheese, butter, and certain meats, which face different treatment regardless of CETA. Standard EU mechanics otherwise apply: since 1 July 2026, orders under €150 from an IOSS-registered seller pay a flat €3 duty per item type, non-IOSS orders under €150 stay duty-free, and orders over €150 pay VAT (varying by member state) plus any applicable duty plus a handling fee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CETA actually in force, or just provisionally applied?

Both, in a sense - it’s been in continuous provisional application since 2017, covering roughly 98% of tariff lines, but hasn’t achieved full permanent ratification by every EU member state. The practical duty-free treatment is real and current either way.

Why hasn’t CETA been fully ratified after almost a decade?

A handful of EU member states’ national parliaments reportedly haven’t given final approval for the small share of provisions that fall outside exclusive EU competence and therefore require unanimous national ratification, not just EU-level approval.

What products aren’t covered by CETA’s duty-free treatment?

Certain agricultural tariff-rate-quota products - cheese, butter, and specific meat categories are the most commonly cited exclusions - continue to face quota-based treatment rather than blanket 0% duty.

How big is EU-Canada trade?

EU-Canada bilateral goods trade reached approximately €81.5-82 billion in 2025, with Canada ranking as the EU’s 12th-largest trading partner.