Canada; Cross Border Shipping Fees

When shipping merchandise to Canada, a shipper or business needs to realize there will be several additional fees or taxes associated with the transportation when something crosses the boarder. Cross border shipping fees are a kind of tax that is added to products crossing the border from the U. S. To Canada. Anywhere from seven to eight percent and up is placed on goods and services, also known as a G. S. T.

A broker will add a fee to a shipment depending on which freight or transportation company an individual or business is using to travel their goods across the boarder into Canada. One nice thing about some of the extra cost is that it is the same amount whether the shipment is a ton of weight or two pounds. This is only for one type of tax, other taxes or duties are dependent on weight and the dollar’s current rate. But if a company needs to ship a lot of products, they would be wise to ship as much as possible at one time to save funds.

There is so much merchandise that travels back and forth from Canada to the Untied States and visa-versa that there is really no reason for any company to hide fees. Persons and companies who ship things need to realize there will be extra duties and almost all companies will be upfront with them.

Having the G. S. T. Or goods and service tax explained up front from a trustworthy company that does the shipping will mean a lot less hassle to the business or individual shipping the items. There could be container charges or overnight storage if the hub is too busy to receive the good and all this will need to be outlined in a contract between the shipping company and the person or company shipping the goods. It is a good idea to shop around, call several places and ask a lot of questions, in order to get the best price for shipments going to Canada.

Additionally, some of the hubs might charge less to receive the goods than others, so checking into which hub or station a transportation carrier is using might help to determine which company to use. Some of the larger hubs may charge more because they are too busy, but some of the smaller hubs may charge more because they do not receive enough business. Checking into all aspects of what the costs will add to a shipment will help the bottom line on a shipment and the final cost to a customer.

The Canadian Boarder Services Agency is the governing body in charge of calculating the taxes and they will release the amounts on their website. Although, the amounts are difficult to determine as to what to affix to what type of item and why, some of the amounts could be zero while other amounts could be around 18 to 20 percent of the total amount charged for the item.

If an individual or company who is shipping products across the boarder into Canada, they would do good to check a website that lists all the imported duties or charges for many of the most popular items, however many of these lists are pages long, some over one hundred. One of the more popular items that travel across the boarder is shoes and their taxes listing pages are in the 20 pages. The website is sponsored by Industry Canada.

There are basically two ways to ship products across the border into Canada: through the postal service or through a private cross border shipping company. With the private shipping company, there are additional charges of anywhere from $25 to $75 and sometimes more to get the items across the boarder in a timely manor. With the postal service, there is a flat fee of around $10 and the packages will get there in a couple of weeks.

If a company or an individual could come up with the nearest or exact weight of what they are shipping, they will have a better chance of knowing what the cross border shipping fees will be and therefore how much their total bill will be. One can always look up the duty amount which changes with the rate of the American dollar verses Canadian money. There are several websites that will help a company or individual calculate this amount based on the current status of the Canadian currency and the American dollar and the shipping weight, where the item is going and how long it should take.

Need a solution to your shipping problems or even shipping costs? Canada’s largest courier company offers the perfect products and solutions for you. They have overnight shipping, air freight, and other services.

Comments are closed.