Trade News

20 December 2007 IMF Report Highlights Canada’s Strong Economic Performance The following is excerpted from the 19 December 2007 news release issued by the Department of Finance. The report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission on Canada acknowledges that Canada’s economy has outpaced…

20 December 2007 Surprise of the Year: Deflation Dissipation The following is a weekly commentary by Stephen S. Poloz of Export Development Canada issued on 19 December 2007. Each year, just before the holidays, we take a look back and recall the surprises that took place in the previous 12 months…

20 December 2007 Importation of U.S. Vehicles by Canadians: Government of Canada Announces Amendment to Clarify and Ease Importation The following is excerpted from the 19 December 2007 news release issued by Transport Canada. The Government of Canada has amended the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations…

20 December 2007 Change of Excise Duty and Additional Duty on Tobacco Products – 1 January 2008 Further to our notice on 21 November 2007 (Changes to Excise Duty Rates on Tobacco Products - January 1, 2008), the following is a message from Vincent Lo Monaco, Director of Tariff Policy Division at the…

20 December 2007 Port security grants face uncertain future in DHS bills The following is excerpted from the 20 December 2007 edition of “American Shipper”. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s fiscal year 2008 appropriations bill that passed the House of Representatives on Monday as part of…

20 December 2007 [U.S.] Justice drops NAFTA records case against Ford The following was reported on in the 19 December 2007 edition of “Journal of Commerce”. In a case that has broad implications for U.S. importers of goods from Canada and Mexico, the Department of Justice has told Ford Motor Co…

19 December 2007 D17-1-7, Customs Self Assessment Program for Importers This memorandum provides information and guidelines regarding the Customs Self Assessment Program (CSA) for importers. It reflects amendments made to the Accounting of Imported Goods and Payment of Duties Regulations, and the…

19 December 2007 CP Message: Service update, Rock slide west of North Bend, BC A rock slide west of North Bend, BC has impacted operations on CP lines in our western corridor. The slide is within the co-production area operated by CP and CN. Traffic is moving via reroute past the area however…

19 December 2007 CBSA Message: Outages and Holidays for 2008 Scheduled maintenances Outages for 2008 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) clients of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) are advised that they can expect scheduled maintenance outages on the following weekends, generally in the early…

19 December 2007 GST/HST Rate Reduction in 2008 The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has published the final GST/HST Notice 226 concerning the reduction in the GST/HST rate in 2008. This notice is available on the CRA website at: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pub/gi/notice226/notice226-e.pdf. Please note…

19 December 2007 Forget decoupling This article is extracted from the 19 December 2007 edition of “globeandmail.com”. For all those gossip columnists who have been gleefully reporting that the U.S. and global markets were headed for Splitsville, I have two words: Centro Properties. Up until a couple…

19 December 2007 ESC lauds customs revisions The following was reported on in the 18 December 2007 edition of “Journal of Commerce”. The European Shippers’ Council on Tuesday said it welcomed revisions of customs rules aimed at improving global anti-terror measures. The SAFE Framework, adopted by…

19 December 2007 DHS made progress in '07, says Chertoff in review The following is excerpted from the 18 December 2007 edition of “The Journal of Commerce”. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department made “tremendous progress” despite its “share of errors” as it continued to…

18 December 2007 CN Message: Intermodal Reservations and Allocations – 24, 31 December For shippers that secure their own reservations on CN trains, as Christmas and New Year's fall on a Tuesday, access to allocation and reservations for the weeks of Dec 31 and Jan 7 will be made available to you…

18 December 2007 Canadian Economic Sanctions against Burma (also known as Myanmar) On December 13, 2007, the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations came into force in order to respond to the gravity of the situation in Burma. The abhorrent human rights and humanitarian situation in Burma is…

18 December 2007 CCS Examination Results – 2007 Congratulations to the 368 students who took the CCS (Certified Customs Specialist) course and are now entitled to use the CCS designation, having passed the fall 2007 final examination. The passing grade for the CCS final examination is 65%. The…

18 December 2007 CCS Examination Results – 2007 Congratulations to the 368 students who took the CCS (Certified Customs Specialist) course and are now entitled to use the CCS designation, having passed the fall 2007 final examination. The passing grade for the CCS final examination is 65%. The…

18 December 2007 Update to CFIA AIRS website A) Chapter 06 was published to modify the requirements for the following HS codes for the Continental United States. 06.02.10.0011.02 - Douglas Fir - Unrooted plants (Other Pseudotsuga spp. than Pseudotsuga menzieii) 06.02.10.0011.05 - Spruce - Unrooted…

18 December 2007 Tories vow to hit 'fly-by-night operators' with $1-million fines, mandatory recalls This article is extracted from the 18 December 2007 edition of “globeandmail.com”. Manufacturers could be fined $1-million and be forced to recall products that pose serious safety concerns under…