He sells golf trolleys, not cars. But he’s facing a $183K bill under a federal Chinese EV tariff

A federal tariff targeted Chinese EVs. But a Pickering golf trolley company is facing a $183K bill

Owner says his company is an 'unintended consequence' of now defunct Chinese Surtax Order

Golf trolley company gets hit with $183K bill from Chinese EV tariff

A Pickering, Ont., business owner who sells golf trolleys says he’s being unfairly taxed under a now-defunct federal tariff intended for Chinese EVs.

JPSM Golf designs and sells remote-controlled electric golf trolleys that carry players’ golf bags while they walk the course.

The company received a shipment of 330 trolleys from China in April 2025. At the time, the trolleys were subject to Canada’s standard 6.1 per cent import tariff, and the company paid just over $19,000.

But this past May, owner Joseph McLuckie received a letter from the Canada Border Security Agency (CBSA), telling him the shipment had been reviewed and his trolleys had been assigned to a different tariff classification.

That reclassification meant the trolleys were subject to the China Surtax Order — a federal tariff that took effect in October 2024 and slapped a 100 per cent surtax on Chinese EVs, along with “electric and certain hybrid passenger automobiles, trucks, buses, and delivery vans."

McLuckie now must pay $182,883.95, including interest and GST.

“This has taken time off my life because of the stress and the sleepless nights … and just wondering what's going to happen next,” he said.

He said he’s at a loss as to why his golf trolleys are being included in a tariff that targeted Chinese EVs and intended to protect Canada’s auto industry.

“Let's go outside with one of my trolleys, and let's park next to an electric vehicle and let's ask the public: what do these two things have in common?” he said.

Unintended consequence of tariff, owner says

When the surtax order was announced in 2024, the government said in a news release the tariff was intended “to level the playing field for Canadian workers.”

In addition to EVs, the order also covered broader tariff classifications, including “motor vehicles for the transport of goods – other with only electric motor for propulsion.” That is the classification the CBSA applied to the trolleys in May, making them subject to the 100 per cent surtax.

Previously, the trolleys were classified under “motor vehicles for the transport of goods – other.”

The government repealed the China Surtax Order effective March 2026, but it still applies to shipments during the period that it was active, the Department of Finance confirmed in an email.

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McLuckie said he believes the tariff was never intended to apply to products like his golf trolleys.

He said he doesn’t know how he’ll keep his business afloat with the new cost, and may need to consider job cuts for his six employees.

Wheelbarrows are considered vehicles: CBSA response

McLuckie is preparing to appeal the CBSA’s decision.

Prior to that process, JPSM Golf’s lawyer, Greg Kanargelidis, sent the CBSA a written submission, which argued in part that golf trolleys are not motor vehicles.

In a response on July 7, the CBSA wrote the golf trolleys are "undoubtedly" considered motor vehicles, since they use an electric motor to move and transport goods.

Vehicles don’t need to have a driver’s position, seat or carry passengers to be classified a vehicle, wrote Juliana Leung, a senior trade compliance officer with the CBSA.

She added that traditional, non-electric wheelbarrows are also considered vehicles under the Canadian customs tariff.

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The CBSA told CBC News in a statement that it couldn’t comment on specific cases.

The agency administers surtaxes “based on the legal wording of individual surtax order,” spokesperson Luke Reimer said in an email.

Over 180 requests for relief from order: feds

Alongside the CBSA appeal, McLuckie has also filed a remission request with the federal government. Remission orders provide full or partial relief from federal tax.

Kanargelidis said remissions are discretionary, meaning the Department of Finance has to agree that a remission is in the public interest.

He said he believes the federal government has been dealing with an influx of remission applications due to tariffs.

The Department of Finance has received over 180 requests for remission since the China Surtax Order took effect, and has granted five remission orders, spokesperson Benoit Mayrand said in an email.

He said the department is currently assessing another 30 requests and expects to advance a sixth remission order this fall, but did not provide details on that order.

The government assesses each remission request in consultation with domestic producers “to determine whether the goods are in short supply in the Canadian market, cannot reasonably be sourced from non-Chinese suppliers, and whether other exceptional circumstances exist that adversely affect the Canadian economy,” he wrote.

Rochelle Raveendran is a reporter for CBC News in Oshawa. She can be reached at: rochelle.raveendran@cbc.ca.