The Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect the global trade flows and economic growth throughout 2022 and likely through to 2023. The third year of Covid-19 and the Ukraine/Russia crisis has caused intensified geopolitical uncertainty that could ...

Many companies started as small online stores that grew into very successful businesses. Although some of these may be unicorns when it comes to sales growth, every small online retailer hopes for just a sliver such success when they build their ...

Importers who import commercial goods into Canada must maintain books and records as prescribed by the Customs Act and Regulations. Importers must be prepared to provide access to and copies of to Canada ...

If you are a part of a large organization that sources your goods globally, you may run into a common problem: How can our Certificate of Origin (COO) be managed efficiently? Who is ...

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is serious about commercial import invoices. The commercial import invoice is used when the agency determines if the duties, taxes and fees involved with goods imported into the US were declared correctly ...

What is Step 1 when importing commercially into Canada? Well, the answer is obtaining a Business Number (BN). In this blog we will explore what it is, why importers need one and how it’s different from an ...

Entry Type 86 is a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) entry type for goods valued under $800 USD - previously allowed under what is commonly known as a Section 321. These are filed on the ACE manifest without a formal Customs entry, provided there were no entry ...

Many importers wonder why their shipment may have been referred by Customs for examination. Additionally, importers who import via a seaport may be presented with charges such as demurrage and detention and not be clear on what these charges ...

In an effort to combat human rights injustices, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) may issue a Withhold Release Order (WRO) for certain goods. We recently saw this with textiles and apparel ...

The Internal Audit and Program Evaluation Directorate of the Canadian Government completed a horizontal evaluation of the Single Window Initiative (SWI) and published it in December 2020. A horizontal ...

Generally, when goods are imported into Canada they are subject to customs duty. However, if it is found that these goods from a specific country and company have caused injury to a Canadian domestic ...

Duty drawback is a basic principle of US international trade law. Simply put, the process of drawback allows 99% of import taxes or duties, along with other taxes and fees paid on imported merchandise, to be refunded upon the exportation of those items subject to ...

The Canada US Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) came into effect in July 2020. Shortly thereafter the new dispute resolution of this trade agreement was activated with the ...

Sweeping legislation is rapidly coming together and is projected to have a historic impact across the US ...

Twice a year, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) releases its Trade Compliance Verification Priorities list. CBSA manages trade compliance with the tariff classification, customs valuation, and origin programs.

With 2021 coming to a close and the New Year fast approaching, we wanted to look forward to what we can expect for 2022 with regards to importing into Canada and shipping goods internationally.

Application of the Harmonized System of tariff classification can be complicated. You can’t just open the Customs Tariff book and Ctrl+F / Command ⌘+F to search (find) for your product. There are legal rules to tariff classification that must be ...

Every 5 years the World Customs Organization (WCO) completes and publishes an updated Harmonized System (HS) Nomenclature. The WCO is an independent intergovernmental body that is responsible for developing international standards to facilitate ...

Do you need to route your shipments through the US to keep them moving? There are various reasons that a ground carrier may need to take this action including road closures, dimensional or weight restrictions. Whatever the reason may be, here are a few conditions of use for US ...

It’s not often that a service provider will tell you how not to pay as much for their services, but when they do, we all sit up a little straighter and pay attention. Such is the topic of today’s blog on how to reduce your import costs with these 5 tips. Tip #1: Choose A Partner, Not Just A Customs Broker. Let’s be honest… who knows what ...

Most importers know that it can be a nightmare navigating the requirements of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and other Participating Government Agencies (PGAs) when importing goods into Canada. However the red tape gauntlet becomes even more dreadful with systems outages. When most government agencies now require ...

Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 allows the US Trade Representative (USTR) to investigate and increase tariffs or impose trade sanctions on countries whose trade practices are deemed discriminatory to US commerce. It reaches beyond the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), to give the US authority to penalize importers of foreign goods. This legislation allows the US to ...

Whether you are a first time importer, or a well-seasoned company, the current shipping crisis has started a cascade effect in escalating costs. These extra fees are being absorbed throughout the supply chain, but the mode feeling the heaviest burden is Ocean Transportation. Traditionally, ocean transport and shipping lines are the most dependable, cost effective ...

Reason to Believe is one of those customs terms that makes importers' eyes glaze over and think about anything else other than the doom and gloom they are being advised on. With the current state of the world, the last thing anyone wants to talk about is anything that will trigger that familiar shot of anxiety that rockets up your spine. But since Halloween is right around the corner, this scary topic seems entirely fitting.

When US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) concludes that an examination of imported goods for trade compliance is in order, the inspection will usually be based upon one or more of the following: Marking and labelling of the goods to satisfy CBP and other Partner ...