subject: When Us Companies Ship To Canada, What Kinds Of Fees Are Involved? [print this page] International shipping is always more expensive that people might realize. When delivery services ship goods from the US to Canada, there are always additional fees, taxes, and charges that apply which do not to domestic orders. This is something that companies need to be aware of when planning out their courier budgets, because even if orders are shipping over less geographic distance, they have the potential to be more expensive thanks to the additional costs which mount as a result of shipping internationally.
The fees that are going to have to be paid when shipping from the US to Canada start with the Canadian taxes. These are going to have to be paid on almost all kinds of goods which are shipped into the country. However, this can be confusing because the different provinces all have different tax regulations. In all provinces, most products will be subject to the 5% GST. In others, this will be combined with a PST of varying amounts, or in some cases combined into a single Harmonized Sales Tax which could be as high as 13%.
The next fee that people are going to have to pay is the fee that they have to pay to their customs broker. Now, this is a fee that is going to have to be paid on every single shipment which travels from the US to Canada. What many people overlook though is a very smart way to help themselves save money on brokerage fees. What is missed in most cases is the fact that a brokerage fee is assessed on every single shipment. When you combine many smaller shipments into one larger one, that brokerage fee is only going to be paid once, instead of on every single shipment. Pay it once and send more shipments as one large delivery to save yourself considerable amounts of money on your international shipping costs.
Other fees can involve specific duties or permit fees which might have to be paid based on what type of goods you are shipping. There is far too much potential variety involved to cover that subject in depth in a short article. When shipping goods which fall under these kinds of regulations though, your courier company will certainly be able to advise you as to what kinds of extra costs you should expect to face. Asking for a consultation well in advance of actual shipping can help you to more accurately estimate total shipping costs.
