Official Customs, Duties, and International Shipping Questions and Stories Thread

[GeorgeC]

All duties have been eliminated, you'll still be charged taxes though.

Damn, really? Does anyone have first hand (recent) experience getting stuff shipped from EU to Canada?

I got dinged every.single.time the last few times I ordered stuff from abroad, even with Canada Post. So if we can at least save the 20% duties, that'd be nice!

 

[curiouscharles]

Damn, really? Does anyone have first hand (recent) experience getting stuff shipped from EU to Canada?

I got dinged every.single.time the last few times I ordered stuff from abroad, even with Canada Post. So if we can at least save the 20% duties, that'd be nice!

It went through officially on September 21st, anything received after that date won't be charged duties [just taxes].

No need for outside confirmation, this is how it works now.

For example, I've saved tens of thousands of dollars on all the duties that weren't charged on our FW17 store orders.

[Yes, CETA is real, and yes, it's AWESOME].

 

[Regg]

I'm placing an order for a bespoke suit from someone in Naples who traveled to NY. He's charging 22% VAT on the wire transfer. Is there a way to recoup the VAT?

Measured you in ny and will make/ship from Naples? If you haven't paid yet tell him to send a new invoice. No way to recoup anything

 

[taxgenius]

Measured you in ny and will make/ship from Naples? If you haven't paid yet tell him to send a new invoice. No way to recoup anything

I haven't paid anything. Met him in NY. He insists that it's Italian law.

 

[MaiLam]

Does CETA work the other way round, will I be spared import duties going from Canada to EU?

 

[curiouscharles]

Yup, it works both ways.

Ain't free trade great?

8D

edit: which reminds me, I should pay my local Italian and French import food stores a visit [oh God, how I love free trade's pricing benefits].

 

[velomane]

I can't wait for the cheeses to start rolling in. There's gotta at least a few that we Canadians will never had a chance to try prior to CETA.

 

[curiouscharles]

I can't wait for the cheeses to start rolling in. There's gotta at least a few that we Canadians will never had a chance to try prior to CETA.

Well, that's what travelling is for. ;p

I would imagine we'll see less "new" cheeses come in [honestly there's not a single French or English cheese I've fallen in love with over there I couldn't get at local importers even in Victoria], but the quota of how much can come in has been doubled [or more? can't remember], so there will at least be more, and it will be 20% cheaper [unless the businesses decide to be greedy and keep the savings for themselves].

 

[Sym]

Hope the price of Epoisses drops. I remember paying 5-7 euros in France and have never seen it less than $30 in Toronto.

I placed an order with a value of 316 euros shipped from Italy using DHL. I was just informed charges are $73. Seems pretty reasonable? I remember being charged the same amount for a $150 MII scarf years ago.

 

[GeorgeC]

^Seems very reasonable.
I am done buying stuff from the US (that is not US made). The 20% duties + 20 % taxes + handling fees is way too much. Even when you buy something in deep discount, it just cancels it out.

 

[Sym]

I recently made two purchases from the same Italian retailer for the exact same item, a pair of Italian made jeans. Both were shipped to Toronto. The first pair was purchased for 316 euros and the second on sale for 251 euros. For the first pair I was hit with a charge of $73.80 which makes sense - ~$474cad + 13% = $61 + $15 DHL charge. For the second shipment, which would convert to ~$376cad I was quoted a charge of $126.72 from DHL.

I contacted DHL about self clearing and headed to the Mississauga CBSA office. I spoke to the customs officer there and he wasn't aware of the specific CETA changes. He proceeded to go look them up and after some time he came back and informed me that the changes only applied to goods leaving Canada for Europe and then returning. I am not sure if that is indeed true, but luckily I didn't get charged duties in the end. This isn't the first time a customs officer was either unaware or has that stated CETA didn't apply to personal goods as I asked officers twice about a month apart at the Niagara crossing. I tired looking up the details online but there is so much jargon, I wish there was a definite and consistent answer as to what we will be billed for.

 

[curiouscharles]

I recently made two purchases from the same Italian retailer for the exact same item, a pair of Italian made jeans. Both were shipped to Toronto. The first pair was purchased for 316 euros and the second on sale for 251 euros. For the first pair I was hit with a charge of $73.80 which makes sense - ~$474cad + 13% = $61 + $15 DHL charge. For the second shipment, which would convert to ~$376cad I was quoted a charge of $126.72 from DHL.

I contacted DHL about self clearing and headed to the Mississauga CBSA office. I spoke to the customs officer there and he wasn't aware of the specific CETA changes. He proceeded to go look them up and after some time he came back and informed me that the changes only applied to goods leaving Canada for Europe and then returning. I am not sure if that is indeed true, but luckily I didn't get charged duties in the end. This isn't the first time a customs officer was either unaware or has that stated CETA didn't apply to personal goods as I asked officers twice about a month apart at the Niagara crossing. I tired looking up the details online but there is so much jargon, I wish there was a definite and consistent answer as to what we will be billed for.

yeah, it's simply ignorance on his part.

it's simply baffling how unaware some of them are with regards to the changes in trade policy which they are supposed to be enforcing.

 

[Sym]

yeah, it's simply ignorance on his part.

it's simply baffling how unaware some of them are with regards to the changes in trade policy which they are supposed to be enforcing.

I don't know, he went searching for it and looked it up. Also, I couldn't find anything myself that specifically states duties are exempt on a government website. He also said if changes like that were made they would send out emails informing the officers but they had received none.

 

[curiouscharles]

I don't know, he went searching for it and looked it up. Also, I couldn't find anything myself that specifically states duties are exempt on a government website. He also said if changes like that were made they would send out emails informing the officers but they had received none.

oh man, this is embarrassing...

within three minutes on google i already have several articles on the government's own website, and various trade blogs proving otherwise [not to mention correspondence with my contacts at FedEx's brokerage service, and even my MLA] also stating otherwise.

i will tell you that the only people who WEREN'T aware of CETA [and its changes to the way EVERYTHING works] were the customs officers who i rang weeks before the initial proposed start time for CETA [which we missed], then i rang them again AFTER it had gone through officially - both times they had no clue what i was talking about.

it's just simple ignorance, with a dash of inanity sprinkled on top.

edit: well, after spending the morning on the phone chatting with my broker, and then global affairs canada, and THEN a well known trade layer [she runs Canada/US blog, great resource] - it would seem CETA only benefits businesses with licensed import permits [ie - which i have].

as such, individuals buying from Europe will still be subject to duties, so i suppose they're trying to encourage you to buy from the Canadian importers instead [who are supposed to pass those savings onto their customers, as i have] - which i guess i appreciate, but obviously think is stupid myself.

 

[Sym]

oh man, this is embarrassing...

within three minutes on google i already have several articles on the government's own website, and various trade blogs proving otherwise [not to mention correspondence with my contacts at FedEx's brokerage service, and even my MLA] also stating otherwise.

i will tell you that the only people who WEREN'T aware of CETA [and its changes to the way EVERYTHING works] were the customs officers who i rang weeks before the initial proposed start time for CETA [which we missed], then i rang them again AFTER it had gone through officially - both times they had no clue what i was talking about.

it's just simple ignorance, with a dash of inanity sprinkled on top.

edit: well, after spending the morning on the phone chatting with my broker, and then global affairs canada, and THEN a well known trade layer [she runs Canada/US blog, great resource] - it would seem CETA only benefits businesses with licensed import permits [ie - which i have].

as such, individuals buying from Europe will still be subject to duties, so i suppose they're trying to encourage you to buy from the Canadian importers instead [who are supposed to pass those savings onto their customers, as i have] - which i guess i appreciate, but obviously think is stupid myself.

That's unfortunate. I guess we're still bound by the ridiculous $20 limit. Guess I'll be sticking to shipping goods to the US.