Don’t wait for a trade deal. Make one.

With the tariff uncertainty and challenges surrounding imports to the USA, many have started looking into expanding to Canada.

Here is why it makes sense to expand to Canada

Whether you are a online merchant, retailer, wholesaler or distributor, there might be structural changes you can make to avoid paying tariffs on business you already have (and grow your business in the northern side of the border)

If you’re selling direct to consumers:

If you’re an online merchant, it’s easier than you think to start selling on the Canadian marketplace. Either ship to a 3PL in Canada or to Amazon FBA—and that’s it.

Getting set up is simple. Your Amazon listing can be modified to sell on the Canadian marketplace. Your website can offer free shipping within Canadian provinces.

Yes, there are some bilingual requirements for Quebec, which I’m not super familiar with, but there are plenty of resources out there to help with that.

One of the biggest holdbacks I’ve seen is sellers saying:
“I can’t fill a container to Canada yet—the sales just aren’t there.”
And they’re right, shipping less than a full container usually doesn’t make sense…

Except it does—to Canada.
LCL to Canada is cheaper because the CFS fees are significantly lower. So shipping smaller volumes isn’t as painful as it is to the U.S.

Now, whenever I used to mention expanding to Canada or the UK, a common response was:
“I don’t have the time, and it’s not worth hiring someone just for that marketplace.”

Here’s the thing—you’ve got the time now.
Tariffs are still in effect. Shipments are down. Ad spend is probably down too.

(And just a little inside scoop—we at Simple Forwarding also have more time on our hands with the drop in bookings. But we’re putting it to use: making improvements, cleaning things up operationally, and yes—launching some new services. Stay tuned.)

So now’s your moment. Use this time to expand. Research. Study. Do what you need to get your business up and running in new markets—not just Canada, but also the UK, EU, and others you may have ignored until now.

(And, if you are serious about expanding to Canada, Simple Forwarding now offers consolidations to many amazon locations within Ontario and British Columbia provinces, powered by Syncro).

Apply here to join our next Amazon consolidation

If you’re wholesaling or selling to businesses:

Whether you’re selling to a retail chain that has stores in Canada, or to a distributor that can get your product onto Canadian shelves, some of your buyers may already be pushing your product into Canada—and you don’t even know it.

In some cases, your business customers might have Canadian locations they’re sending your goods to from the U.S. You can now divert that supply chain and ship directly to their Canadian locations from China.

Others may be reselling your product to Canadian customers—B2C or B2B. If that’s happening, you might be paying duties unnecessarily. You could save big by drop shipping straight to Canada. (This is often called blind shipping.)

Some customers might not be reselling at all—they’re using the goods. Take uniforms, for example. A company might order uniforms from you for employees in Canada. If you ship directly to their Canadian facility, and those employees wear the uniforms across the border, it’s considered personal belongings—so no duties.

(contact an attorney before doing anything)

You’ve still got your goods within Arms Length

Whether you succeed in selling your entire shipment in Canada or part of it (or none) you still got your shipment at the northern side of the border within arms length.

As I have mentioned in one of my previous emails, once a deal is reached between the US and China, there will be a surge in new bookings, raising prices, limited space and congested ports. Having your goods just across the border will save you all of that.

Furthermore, for the chance that the deal will not be retroactive, goods imported into a FTZ will still be subject to the reciprocal at the time of importation (very unlikely, but still a possibility) and so using Canada as your FTZ is even more appealing.

(For those of you getting nervous about your FTZ merch, don’t worry, you can export to Canada bonded and import it back).