Clearit.ca's Blog on Customs Brokerage and News Updates

It’s well known that President Trump isn’t a big fan of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Renegotiating the agreement – or breaking it – was a key element in Trump’s electoral campaign and now, with the power of the U.S. economy in his hands, the President is now in a position to dictate the agenda. The most recent development is that NAFTA negotiations probably won’t start until late 2017, might last a year and will include se...

'America First' is the ideology behind President Trump's approach to foreign affairs, especially when it comes to trade it seems, but there might be a small backlash to the protectionist ways of the Donald: a leading American voice for free trade has recently admitted that imposing import tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber would end up hurting U.S. workers in the end. Oups. The U.S. National Association of Home Builders is warning that duties...

Canada received a nice Valentine’s Day gift as Euro parliament members voted in favor of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) by a 408 to 254 vote. This now means that parts of the agreement that links Canada to the European Union, such as tariff reduction, will come into force eight years after the initial negotiations had started. The vote passed relatively well, considering the chaotic crowd of protesters gathered outside...

Gypsum boards – or drywall – coming in from the United States is now more expensive to buy in Canada. Sheets that once cost $8 are now being sold at approximately $13 a sheet. For contractors and weekend renovators, that amounts to having to pay double the cost for their drywall needs. The price surge is a result of the Canadian trade tribunal’s decision to back tariffs on U.S. drywall. The whole drywall saga started after a dumping comp...

During a meeting held on Monday January 23rd in Calgary, Prime Minister Trudeau in town for a cabinet retreat, met with Stephen Schwarzman, chair of President Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum. M. Schwarzman is also the chief executive of the U.S. investment firm Blackstone Group and was appointed to head Trump's forum last December. The most recent move by President Trump to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has th...