Duty Calculator(s)

One of the most common questions we see is "Do you have a Duty Calculator" or "Do you have a Duty and Tax Calculator?"

The answer is - YES - we do. We actually have a number of different Duty & Tax Calculators.

The main one is located here - http://www.borderbuddy.com

This lets you calculate the duties and taxes on a shipment entering Canada from anywhere in the world. You select a number of different parameters, including Customs specific item categories, the shipping date (to calculate Customs Exchange Rate), and, voila, you can see how much your shipment into Canada will cost you.

We also have a calculator that tells you the cost of importing a car or vehicle into Canada. I wrote about that early last year.

We offer a calculator for eBay items if you are a Canadian looking to import. That can be found here.

Lastly, and certainly not least - we built a calculator to determine what duties and taxes are on wine being imported into Canada. The Wine duty & tax calculator can be found here.

If you're interested in calculating duty and do not see what you're looking for here - please contact us toll free 1.800.663.4270 or at consulting@aacb.com - and we will answer your questions, free of charge.

We're always looking for your feedback, so if you have any suggestions for changes or updates, please let me know.

February 2009 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

February 2009 Edition

TIME-SHARE

 
The time-share vacation home, the status symbol of the U.S. middle class symbol is taking a serious hit as consumer credit has dried up. One of the largest time-share companies is cutting 4,000 jobs as it shrinks its time-share business and expects 2009 sales to be US$1.2-billion, down from $2-billion in 2008. Time share sales in the U.S. grew from about $2.7-billion in 1997 to $10.7-billion in 2007.

WINE

A bumper harvest has pushed Italian wine production above that of neighbouring France for the first time in a decade. It is estimated that the 2008 production of Italian wine is up 8 per cent over 2007 to 4.7-billion litres, compared with 4.4 billion litres in France where production fell 5 per cent.

DEVELOPMENT

America ranks 17th out of 22 rich countries in its commitment to fostering prosperity in the developing world. The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Denmark take the top four spots thanks to the generosity of their foreign aid, relative to the size of their economies. Countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada score well by dint of good trade and security policies. Environmental, technology and migration policies count too. However, America's relatively low trade barriers, the generosity of it citizens' private aid flows and pro-poor technologies save it from last place.

CRIME

Art crime is big business and is estimated to be worth between US$1.5- and $6-billion annually. It is now the fourth largest international crime, after drug-dealing, gun-running and money laundering and is now a fully globalized industry with paintings stolen in Europe turning up in Japan or the U.S.

BORDERS

The U.S. is to build a seventh border crossing between California and Mexico by 2014 to ease chronic congestion and boost trade. The State Department has granted a permit to build a toll crossing between Otay Mesa and Tijuana at a cost of US$715-million. The current crossing at Otay Mesa handles cargo, vehicle and pedestrian traffic and is free. The new crossing will offer alternative facilities at a fee. Last year, some 79-million people crossed through California's six existing ports of entry.

BULBS

A European Union report has recommended banning conventional incandescent light bulbs by 2012 to save money and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. The report says that the EU could save up to US$12-billion a year in energy bills by switching to low energy bulbs. The report needs the backing of the European Parliament and all 27 member states to become law.

MEDICINE

According to a federal survey of over 32,000 Americans, more than one-third of adults and nearly 12 per cent of children in the U.S. use alternatives to traditional medicine, showing how entrenched acupuncture, herbal remedies and other once-exotic therapies have become. The most commonly used are dietary supplements, and herbal products such as echinacea, flaxseed oil and ginseng.

SIZE

A UK food industry group predicts that Tesco will grow faster than Carrefour in the next four years and in 2012 will overtake the French company to become the world's second largest retailer after Wal-Mart. Tesco's growth will be spurred by international expansion in markets such as China, the U.S. and India. By 2 012, Tesco's sales are expected to reach US$157-billion annually.

STOVES

Between two-and-a-half and three billion people, nearly half the world's population, use a stove every day, in conjunction with solid fuel such as wood, dung or coal. The WHO estimates that toxic emissions from cooking stoves are responsible for causing 1.6-million premature deaths each year, half of them among children under five years old. Research on stoves in India, Guatemala and Mexico has found links between indoor air-pollution from stoves and increased incidence of pneumonia, cataracts and tuberculosis.

PROPERTY

Chinese bargain hunters are descending on American cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, where home owners have suffered some of the steepest price falls in the U.S. Property professionals say there is considerable interest among wealthy Chinese who often hold a high proportion of assets in property, in investing abroad. Restrictions on taking money out of China may be an obstacle but some potential investors have overseas connections such as a foreign passport which can make it easier.

COINS

Mexico, following the lead of several other countries, has proposed making coins smaller and using cheaper metals to keep costs low amid the financial crises and volatile metal costs. Mexico's central bank produces around 1.5-billion coins each year and estimates it could save around 200-million pesos a year. In the U.S., the U.S. penny now costs 1.2 cents to produce.

SPEED

With a price tag of between US$8,000 and $16,000 the Telsa supercomputer is beyond the reach of most consumers but it is expected to revolutionize the way scientists and medical professionals carry out their work. The gadget's power will allow doctors to process the results of brain and body scans much more quickly allowing them to give results to patients in hours rather than days as they process information 1000 times more quickly than domestic PCs.

CHICKEN

A survey of U.S. consumers show that they are reducing their consumption of red meat in favour of chicken. While the US$66-billion beef sector still rules the roost, chicken increased its sales in 2008 by 6.7 per cent, three times the overall growth rate for meat. Premium red meats have taken a hit as shoppers cut back their overall spending.

SCIENTISTS

Half a billion dollars is to be invested in training scientists and engineers to tackle the problems Britain faces in the future. The US$500-million will be used to create 44 training centres across the UK and fund more than 2,000 PhD students. It is hoped they will develop solutions to major concerns such as climate change and energy issues.

COUPONS

The faltering economy could mean renewed interest in coupons as shoppers refocus on the cost of products they buy. Coupons that offer cents off, or percentages off the price of things like groceries, clothing and restaurant meals are particularly popular when consumers need to stretch their dollars. In 2007, 89 per cent of the population in the U.S. said they used coupons, compared with 86 per cent in 2006. Complete data for 2008 is not available as yet but there are indications that the figure may be as high as 94 per cent.

LUGGAGE

It was expected that the new state-of-the-art luggage system at the US$8.5-billion Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow airport would improve performance but this is not proving to be so. British Airways came near the bottom of the table of airlines. It is 25th out of 29 airlines with 18.9 bags per thousand passengers going missing. Last summer, BA mislaid more than 17,000 bags a week. Another British carrier, BMI has been named as the European airline most likely to lose a passenger's bags with 25.5 bags being lost per thousand passengers.

MOUSE

Swiss company Logitech has hailed as a major landmark the production of its one billionth mouse which is now 40 years old. This comes at a time when analysts claim the days of the mouse are numbered. The mouse now faces tough competition as laptops and notebooks, which use a touch pad, are increasingly taking the place of the desktop computer.

SENIORS

Canada's rural population is aging faster than its urban population in terms of its share of senior citizens. Statistics Canada reports that between 1996 and 2006, the number of rural seniors increased by 19 per cent. Because of the migration of younger people to urban areas, the share of the rural population that was senior (aged 65 and over), increased by 2.1 per cent whereas the share of seniors in the predominantly urban population increased by 1.1 per cent. In 2006, for every senior in rural regions there were 4.3 people in the working-age population. However, in urban Canada, the ratio was higher at 5.6.

WATER

The journal Science reports that growing crops in salt water is becoming necessary to overcome shortages of fresh water. They suggest the domestication of wild plants that grow in salty conditions could help reduce global food shortages. The rising cost of bringing in freshwater to irrigate traditional crops may force producers to turn to salt water agriculture. Around the world, many agricultural areas are becoming less productive as salt levels in water supplies increase.

ELECTRICITY

The state of Hawaii and Hawaiian Electric have endorsed an effort to build an alternative transportation system based on electric vehicles with exchangeable batteries and an "intelligent" battery recharging network. By using existing electric car technologies, coupled with tens of thousands of recharging stations connected by the Internet, it is predicted that all-electric vehicles will become feasible. It is planned to test the program in 2009 in anticipation of a widespread rollout in 2012. Hawaii is a relatively small market with high energy costs. The state has about 1.2 million cars and replaces 70,000 to 120,000 vehicles annually.

CONGO

The Democratic Republic of Congo is struggling to recover from a lengthy civil war in which an estimated three million people have died. Since its independence in 1960, its vast mineral wealth has been a key factor in the country's civil war and instability. It has huge reserves of gold, cobalt, tantalite and cassiterite, all of which are used in the manufacture of consumer electronics raising ethical issues for consumers and manufacturers as to where components are made. Many ideas have been touted to try and identify where components have been sourced. One promising one is to use the "fingerprinting" now in place for locating where diamonds have been mined.

COLOUR

Scientists have developed purple tomatoes which they hope may be able to keep cancer at bay. The fruit are rich in an antioxidant pigment called anthocyanin which is thought to have anti-cancer properties. Anthocyanins, found in particulary high levels in berries such as blackberry, cranberry and chokeberry, have been shown to help significantly slow the growth of colon cancer cells. They are also thought to offer protection against cardiovascular disease. There is evidence that the pigments have anti-inflammatory properties and help eyesight.

CHOCOLATE

A scientist at Brock University has calculated the ages of 3,206 chocolate bars on Canadian retail store shelves. The average bar was 140 days old, or more than four and a half months. About 3.3 per cent were more than a year old. Wal-Mart and 7-Eleven had the youngest candy, which averaged 43 days less than the shelf time at six other retail chains. Products were older in summer than in fall or winter, likely because of seasonal swings in consumer demand.

Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.

Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp