The Canadian Trucking Alliance is pleased Canada and the U.S. were able to strike a new trade agreement this week. During a preliminary review, the Alliance highlighted how the pact could impact cross-border trade facilitation at various border crossing points and will continue to assess how the deal affects the industry and various segments of the Canadian economy as details become available.

“CTA firmly believes the Government of Canada delivered the best deal possible. Now it’s up to the supply chain to take some time to understand what this deal means to our businesses,” said CTA president Stephen Laskowski. “The US is by far our largest trading partner and with over 70 percent of that trade being moved by truck, CTA welcomes the certainty of a trade deal.”

“Obviously this is an extremely complex agreement that impacts all sectors of the economy served by CTA members. This deal will introduce changes to our customer base and possibly our cross-border operations. Identifying all the changes will take time to unravel. In the meantime, CTA will work with the Canadian negotiating team to understand the finer elements of the agreement.”

CTA’s initial analysis of certain sections of the agreement identified some potential changes related to how goods cross the border:

• Potential revisions to the temporary admission of goods as it relates to movements in-transit

 

• Changes to promote trade facilitation through electronic submissions and potential changes to warehousing rules

 

• Express shipments and changes to the monetary value of goods to which import duties apply

 

• Enshrining that each country shall establish a single window or maintain a single window system no later than December 31, 2018 that enables the electronic submission through a single-entry point of documents and data

 

• Potential changes to the administration of customs penalties, and how they are imposed, including the treatment of “clerical” or “minor” errors

 

• Facilitating trade through programs designed to improve the movement of goods through ports of entry, including if feasible, alignment of hours of service, joint customs inspections and shared facilities

“When this process began, CTA met with its customs committee to develop a wish list we hoped would be addressed during the NAFTA discussions,” said Lak Shoan, CTA director, Policy and Industry Awareness Programs. “CTA will be reviewing the agreement’s text and following up with government to understand the complete impact of what was agreed upon.”

Over the next several weeks CTA will be updating its members on the agreement’s impact. For more information contact lak.shoan@ontruck.org.