Canada has entered into free trade agreements (and has active
free trade agreements) with a number of countries, including the
United States, Mexico, Israel, Chile, Jordan, Iceland, Norway,
Sweden, Lichtenstein, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica
and South Korea. Under these free trade agreements, the duties on
certain goods have reduced to 0%. Importers claim the preferential
tariff treatment and pay no duties (or reduced duties where
applicable). As a result, "free trade" is often equated
with tariff elimination or tariff reductions.
Confusion arises when the Canada Border Services Agency
("CBSA") contacts importers of goods from FTA countries
and asks to verify origin in order to support the duty free
treatment. Often, the importer does not have the necessary
information to respond to the CBSA and the duty free treatment is
denied for past imports and future imports.
