Forum Moderators: buckworks
Does anyone have any recommendations for the best inexpensive ground shipping options for them?
USPS is no good because goods can get stuck at the border for weeks.
UPS works, but they charge nearly $60CDN for brokerage fees, and I can't seem to get them to stop charging GST fees. My customers can get the GST refunded since they are reselling, but its an additional hassle I'd prefer they not have to deal with.
Its also going to be an even larger issue soon as I'm going to be contracting some of our production to Canada and having to have materials that I purchase shipped direct from warehouses in California to Canada.
Everything crossing the border is subject to GST, you will never stop it. The way GST (7% Goods and Services Tax) works is that the end customer pays it. So your wholesaler pays it when it enters the country, collects what he payed back from the government, then charges it to the customer when the goods are finally sold. For lack of a better term it is a "consumption tax".
It is a very un-popular tax up here, but it is not going away. Your Canadian customers are completely aware of this tax and if they dare complain to you, tell them to move out of their cave and join the rest of society.
Just like importing in the USA, there is a brokerage fee to handle the paperwork.
The best way to deal with brokerage is to consolidate your shipments into one shipment. It cost $60.00 (we pay less, so shop around) whether it is a box worth 10 bucks, or a transport truck load worth a million bucks.
So, if you are doing a lot of cross border business, you may want to consider a fulfillment operation on the Canadian side. Sticky me if you need one.
It is the responsibility of the person who is receiving the goods to pay the GST. It has zero to do with where the goods are made.
GST, applies to all goods and services in Canada. Except food purchased in a grocery store or real estate. You pay it on all restaurant meals, all goods, insurance, a car, my beer, everything that is a good or service, it is a sales tax.
NAFTA just prevents you from paying duties, like you might on stuff from China. Except if you want to send a train load of lumber to the US for rebuilding New Orleans or your new home for example, then the US government slaps a tariff on it (sorry, a Canadian rant).
Despite out "free trade" aggreement, there is still barriers to trade. Don't believe the hype.
The items I'm going to be shipping from California to Toronto are actually made in Taiwan, which means no NAFTA certificate of origin.
Its hard to believe that the Canadian government would slap an import duty on products that will only be in Canada to turn them from raw materials to finished goods and then be shipped back to the US for sale.
I guess I'll have to start making some phone calls to get it all sorted out as well as figure out how to get my GST back.
As far as my customers go, they are familiar with the GST and none seem to mind, but goods always arrive with taxes due. It would nice if I could find a way to charge the taxes and remit on their behalf without having to open a Canada based distributor.
You need a customs broker for that question. You may also have the US government charge duties for products from Taiwan. Obviously, with the massive amount of manufacturing in Ontario, thousands of companies deal with these issues every day, so you will need to hire a professional. Sticky me if you want to know which ones operate on the borders near Toronto.
There are ways for US companies and citizens to recoup what was paid in GST. Go the Canadian government website, start here:
[cra-arc.gc.ca...]
