Anyone have any experience in importing/exporting goods between the U.S. and Canada

[nickerjones]

i am wanting to sell Canadian goods in the U.S. I have been looking through gov't info on it but some of the legal jargon is hard to understand. Does anyone here have experience?? know anything about permits tarifs or taxes ??? i know its a shot in the dark but hey its worth a try!!

p.s. i emailed the division of textile and apparel for the u.s. so im waiting on a response from them ... so any help on your end would be greatly appreciated!!

[MelBridgeman]

what do we have in canada that they dont have in the US?

If you are sending from canada to the us...i usually mark gift on the customs card...but any tariffs are charged to the buyer...

If you are brining stuff from canada into the us to sell...well as long as you get it across the border....

[driveway]

Well... because we're part of NAFTA, theoretically there shouldn't be much in the way of you selling goods down there - of course, this isn't actually the case - but the major question is what kind of goods is it that you want to sell down there? Some goods are going to be far harder than others. I'm guessing that it's some kind of clothing - chances are there won't be that many roadblocks to your moving goods across the border.

Also it will depend on quantity and regularity - are you looking to set up a business or do a one-time transaction?

Another - and probably the most complex - issue is whether you want to send your goods to more than one state. If you do, each state may or may not have different regulations that you have to comply with.

[nickerjones]

well my wife is from calgary. She is in the dance buisness here... she worked for a lady who manufactures dance wear , clothes ( similiar lululemon pants and jackets and such) also costumes. In branson, missouri there are tons of entertainers and dance studios around but not much in the way of clothing. SO on a recent visit to the states the lady, who manufactures the clothes , was thinking of buliding a warehouse here to also produce in the states. She asked if we wanted to start selling to see if it would do any good here. we dicussed in more on my recent trip to calgary so now it is just trying to find out what we need to do to sell

[driveway]

I can't see there being much trouble ... though it might be easier to have an American company buying products direct from Canada instead of having a warehouse in the States and shipping internally, I don't know.

[nickerjones]

well , the reason they want a warehouse in the state is mainly because they want to become snowbirds and come to the south during winter. but thank you for your help! if anyone has anymore info , i welcome it with open ears!

[Flash Walken]

Put it in a ziplock inside a shampoo bottle.

Adurr...

[worth]

you need a nafta certificate of origin

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pbg/cf/b232/

[DementedReality]

what is the commodity?

textiles are very difficult to import to the USA due to quota's. if the goods are made elsewhere, such as China, then they are not part of Nafta even if they are now being shipped from Canada. if certain parts are not of Canadian origin, say if your Canadian made widget has a German component internally, then part of the product is not Nafta either.

you should contact a US customs broker to help you. typically, you will pay about $150.00 consultation fee to determine the HS codes of your products. if you are a commercial venture, its not that much. if this is a one time project, you might not want to.

[Kidder]

Try Art Vandelay... he`s an importer/exporter

(Not the actual CP poster Art Vandelay. Seinfeld reference)

[North East Goon]

Originally Posted by Kidder

Try Art Vandelay... he`s an importer/exporter

(Not the actual CP poster Art Vandelay. Seinfeld reference)

But what is he importing/exporting? Potato Chips?

[Tron_fdc]

A few steps here:

Get a customs broker. We use either UPS supply chain solutions, or Russal Farrow. They are located at all the border crossings, so if you know which crossing your goods are using contact them and set up an account. We charge our clients "brokerage" on all our goods because we clear everything, and all they have to do is unload at destination. I've found that this is preferable to having your American counterparts clear it, because they usually don't have a clue how.

You will need to provide a commercial invoice and a packing list (bill of lading) to your customs broker so they can clear it on your behalf. Your invoice will have to show final destination, pricing, as well as the IRS# of the company you are sending it to.

You will need to determine the HS code (harmonized system code) of the goods that you are exporting. HS codes are a universal coding system that governments worldwide use to determine if duties are applicable to goods coming into their countries. You can look up your HS code at http://www.statcan.ca/english/tradedata/cec/index.htm as well as learn more about documentation, etc.

I would suggest you find out if your goods fall under NAFTA or not. If they do, you won't have to pay duty but you will need to provide a certificate of origin showing that they are Canadian made. Canadian made goods can have foreign content (ie fabric imported from China, but sewn in Canada) and still fall under NAFTA, but content allowances will vary depending on the product. If your product doesn't qualify under NAFTA you don't need a certificate of origin, but you will need to mark country of origin (eg made in China) on your bill of lading.

My advise would be to toss together a shipment, and do a trial run. Your broker will help you through the process and after you do it once or twice you'll more or less figure it out. It sounds complicated, but it really isn't that bad.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Kidder

Try Art Vandelay... he`s an importer/exporter

(Not the actual CP poster Art Vandelay. Seinfeld reference)

I thought he was in Latex?

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I thought he was in Latex?

correct for 2 points