@mjwl2006 wrote:
Does this mean that ebay Canada sellers will be able to export to buyers in the UK, France and Germany without those customers being assigned prohibitive import fees on arrival? I always inwardly cringe when I think what sum will be added to my outgoing order for duty before it reaches the customer overseas.
I would think it will have absolutely no effect on most of us, unless you are exporting wholesale to the E.U., or are a Canadian manufacturer/distributor trying to break into that market. Just as Canadians still have to pay HST/GST on incoming personal purchases from abroad over a certain amount, Europeans will continue to have to pay the VAT on their purchases from Canadian eBay sellers.
The sector that will see an enormously positive difference will be Canadian manufacturers and exporters to the E.U. who have been trying for decades to compete in that market against tariffs on certain classes of goods. In exchange, you'll likely see new items appear here, such as a lot more European food products on Canadian shelves.
That said, it could make a big difference for small-scale producers/manufacturers (even like me), who would love to be able to make agreements with EU retailers to carry their products and to ship them in quantity to an EU distributor without the hefty tariffs that drive up the base wholesale price.
I think Trudeau's government was exactly right to do this now. It will generate momentum amongst small to medium Canadian businesses. The big multi-nationals already have the means to penetrate the EU market through subsidiary companies, but what was needed was access for the average Canadian business.
It was also perfect timing in terms of shielding Canada, at least partially, from the economic slaughter that will occur for Canadian businesses should (now President-elect) Donald Trump do what he's been promising all along and repeal NAFTA or replace it with a trade deal completely favourable to the U.S.
(As an aside, I never thought I'd have to use those two words together: "President" and "Trump". Actually, I never thought I'd see a grown-up 15 year old egomaniac with impulse control problems standing on a stage as President-elect together with Bannan and the other rogues' gallery of purveyors of bigotry and hate. God help us all. We may have a lot more to worry about soon enough.)
