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

What seemed to be a rumour only a few days ago as Prime Minister Trudeau was about to embark on his trip to Washington has now been announced officially: Canada intends to introduce legislation in Spring 2016 to implement the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Land, Rail, Marine and Air Transport Preclearance. At a recent forum hosted by the website Politico and the Canadian American Business Council, Alan Bersin, assistant secretary for international a...

It was almost a year ago that the United States and Canada signed a new agreement on managing our long shared border. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and then Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney signed in March 2015 what is known as the Agreement on Land, Rail, Marine and Air Transport Preclearance, an innovative mutual understanding between the two governments which many anticipated would produce significant benefits for Canada ...

Figures related to Canada’s 2015 trade numbers were published in early February by Statistics Canada: imports are up while exports are going through a gloomier period. As non-energy exports are showing a promising growth, the numbers don’t cancel out the reduced energy exports in addition to the loss of 0.6 per cent in total merchandise exports. But on the other side, imports have gone up 4.5 per cent, creating what experts are now calling th...

The Trans-Pacific Partnership may have been signed by its 12 members last Thursday February 4th but it’s not yet a done deal. As representatives of the partner nations were all smiles for the cameras in New Zealand during the formal signing of one of the world’s largest multinational trade deals, tough negotiations are still ahead on what promises to be a bumpy road towards ratification. New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, qualified ...

Small and medium-sized businesses in Canada often have a hard time competing on a global scale. As such, provisions must be made to allow these companies to compete. International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland realized this. So she created a $50-million fund to help small and medium businesses in Canada export. Small Business Exports in Canada   eBay Canada is the leading e-commerce platform for enterprises of all sizes in the co...

If you're not growing your business – then you are losing business. Maintaining the "status quo" often hurts sales. Competitors spring up and take market share because they understand the changing market conditions. You have to adapt to survive. As business picks up in January after the holidays come to a close, you need to take advantage of this time. January is the perfect time to review your processes and update operations. With regard...

Each and every year significant changes in the global trade winds take place. 2016 looks to be no different. New developments are predicted to play a large role in nearly every facet of trading this year. The majority of Canadian businesses that import and export goods will be affected. Varied in scope and broad in substance – most of these groundbreaking developments are the result of many years of implementation phases and negotiations. ...

As of Monday, January 11, 2016, fines will be levied against any trucker who fails to adhere to requirements set forth by the Canada Border Services Agency through the eManifest program. Statistics between the countries As of now, there are significant amounts of goods being transported from the U.S. to Canada by way of motor carriers. Roughly 54% of cargo was brought into Canada by motor carriers in 2014.These goods were valued at approxim...

As your business expands outside of the continental US, international shipping becomes necessary for your customers to receive your product. What may seem like a simple system of send and delivery, invariably presents a few obstacles when doing business with other countries, cultures and ways of doing things. International shipping can be very tricky at times—everything from custom forms and regulations to the way an address is written and f...

Over 75% of Canadian households shopped online last year. This number certainly isn't expected to decrease anytime soon. One up and coming business that has taken advantage of the Canadian customs power is Shoes.com. The latest venture from the founder of Coastal Contacts, Roger Hardy stumbled upon his footwear empire by happenstance. After his contact business had been sold, Hardy began searching for a new venture to invest his time, energy, ...