The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), also referred to as the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement (USMCA), comes into effect on July 1, 2020. Are you ready?
The full CUSMA Agreement was signed in November of 2018, and later amended in December 2019. In April of this year each of the three parties notified that they had completed
With few exceptions, those importing food into Canada now or soon (July 15, 2020) will require an import license issued pursuant to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations:
Originally published by the Journal of Commerce in November 2019
If one listens to the press, the only thing going on in D.C. right now is the impeachment hearing. However, in reality, life goes on pretty much as before. The various agencies continue their work, perhaps with somewhat different priorities, and international traders continue buying
On April 8, 2019, Canada’s International Trade Diversification Minister finally announced the appointment of Ms. Sheri Meyerhoffer as Canada’s first Ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise (“CORE”). On January 17, 2018, the Government of Canada announced that it would create an Office of the CORE. This is one of Canada’s progressive Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives to
Originally published by the Journal of Commerce in November 2018
One of the many frustrations facing international traders trying to import goods into the U.S. is whether or not they will be accepted as importer of record by Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”). CBP established a program to deal with what it views as the
Originally published by the Journal of Commerce in October 2018
While a lot of well-deserved attention is being paid to the steel, aluminum and China tariffs, and the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, change is afoot in many other ways. For example, in July 2018, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued an advisory about risks
This is a common problem – too common. The people in the company responsible for customs and trade compliance do not work closely with the computer programmers as software is being developed — and mistakes are made. The computer programmer does his or her job in preparing the code, but does not have any
In July, 2017, the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) released “Tariff Compliance Verifications – July 2017”. What are “Tariff Compliance Verifications”? Tariff compliance verifications are CBSA customs audits during which the CBSA ensures that importers are using the proper tariff classification (HS Code) numbers when completing import documentation. If you are making mistakes, the
The trade landscape is changing for many Canadian companies. Canada is involved in the renegotiation of NAFTA. The Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement comes into effect on August 1, 2017. The Canada-EU CETA enters into provisional effect on September 21, 2017. The Government of Canada is updating export controls and economic sanctions laws and Global
Originally published by the Journal of Commerce, July 2017
No, this is not the latest Internet craze, but rather evidence of just how persistently Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is enforcing antidumping evasion in the U.S. It has been routine for CBP to send Requests for Information to importers seeking production records establishing the individual