Customs duties when shipping from USA to Canada?

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Back in 2018, MFC posted a link to an article pointing out that the trade war added a 10% tariff to mattresses imported from the US to Canada:

[quote=“MFC post=78012”]As of July 1 2018, Mattresses and Pillows coming from the USA will be hit with a 10% tariff from the federal government when entering Canada.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/list-tariff-items-cost-more-1.4728955[/quote]
Original Post: https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/canadian-shoppers-us-mattresses-will-now-cost-you-more

Question #1: Can anyone confirm if this is still the case, or did ratification of the USMCA trade agreement (e.g. NAFTA 2.0) eliminate the tariff on mattresses?

Canadian Border Services Agency has a “Duties and Taxes Estimator” but mattresses are not specifically listed:

They do list a category for “Home Furnishings”, with the following product options:
“Bedroom: Duvets, pillows, sheets, blankets”
“Furniture: Bedroom, home entertainment, living room, desk, dining room”

Both categories list duties as 0% if the products are manufactured in the USA, Mexico or Canada, leaving only the applicable GST/HST/PST payable on importation. However, if they are manufactured in another country, the estimator says duties are 18.8% for the “Bedroom: Pillows, Sheets, Blankets” items and 9.5% for “Furniture: Bedroom, home entertainment, living room, desk, dining room” items.

Question 2: If these are the correct categories, does anyone know which product category a mattress would fall into? And, is it different if you’re importing mattress components, like loose latex layers?

2

Hi OptiMattressPrime,

I spent a few hours looking for the tarif and can no longer find it. I tried calling Canada customs but with CV-19 it’s impossible to get through. The tarif must have been remove after the trade wars ended when Trump was removed from power.

A mattress would probably fall under Bedroom furniture, while latex toppers under bedroom. Both are now duty free if they are made in the USA or Mexico.

Other cost to consider if buying a mattress or toppers from the USA:
Convert 1000$ USD into Canadian = 1254$ (as of 17/1/2022 on Forex) please remember that your credit card company will give you a lower rate
Brokers Fees = from 75$ to 125$ depending on carrier
In order to fall under NAFTA and be exempt from Duties it’s best to request a certificate of origin from your manufacturer and send it with the paper work along with the mattress. This can help avoid any confusion and duties with the custom agents when the brokers clear your order into Canada.
Finally provincial taxes that are around 15%

If ever the bedding components you buy need to be serviced under warranty you may need to pay some of these fees upon return. It’s best to ask the retailer you’re buying from in the USA to see what return cost they cover.

All the best

3

I just brought over a bunch of mattress items last month and I did not pay any extra customs duties on any of it (items were all manufactured in the US). They are totally by the book at the customs border so if it does show as being manufactured outside US/CA/Mexico then they may put a duty on it (applied duty % depends on the goods classification number at customs). If there is no manufacturing label then usually they will just default to where it was shipped from (ie if the stuff was shipped from the US then it’s assumed it was made there and no duty, shipped from Germany with no label then duty will likely be applied).

As MFC mentioned you will pay:

  • Sales taxes (based on your provincial rates, PST & GST or HST)
    [li]Brokerage fee (depends on the shipper and declared value, UPS/FEDEX/DHL all charge it but some waive it based on shipping option…can be very expensive since it’s variable, always double check this before buying anything!!!)
    [li]Currency conversion rate (not really an extra, just something to be aware of when buying from abroad)
    [/li]

Warranty or return of items can be a major pain. I would assume whatever you buy will pretty much be staying in Canada (it can be done but bulky items like mattresses or toppers can be very expensive to return ship without a commercial shipping account). If you are getting warranty items shipped to you, make sure says “warranty” and the declared value is zero or absolutely as low as possible because this will dictate how much brokerage or sales taxes you pay to receive the item.

That said I have bought alot of stuff from the US so even with all the hassle there’s alot of benefits such as often lower prices, greater selection and cheap shipping in the US (if you use your own brokerage to bring items across…this works best if you live very close to the border already).