Is international shipping still happening during the lockdown?

[pansophic.innovator]

If you risk being an el cheapo right now and buy cheap stuff from China and other parts of East Asia, will you receive it or will it get stuck at the border customs? 

[ypdc_dennis]

Canadian customs processing is still occurring, but at a slower pace due to covid-19 social distancing.

The bigger elephant in the room is shipping (air flights are way down, so expect long delays). Australia Post (as an example) expects delays of 3-6 weeks for shipments to Canada.

[pansophic.innovator]

So would you say to hold back on buying international for now and wait for things to return to normal?

[ypdc_dennis]

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@pansophic.innovator wrote:
So would you say to hold back on buying international for now and wait for things to return to normal?

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I would hold back until Canada starts coming out of lockdown -- unless it was something you are really willing to wait for. Also check to see how the shipping country is doing with covid-19.

Canada Post announced earlier this week that they are handling mail volumes normally seen during the December holiday season (all those folk buying because they are stuck at home).

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[pansophic.innovator]

You mentioned that flights are way down, but aren't cargo planes separate from commercial flights? The cargo airport in China claimed they were apparently so busy they skipped cargo on us.

https://www.coastreporter.net/covid-19/key-covid-19-testing-chemical-reaches-canada-amid-china-empty...

[ypdc_dennis]

Passenger air flights normally carry a lot of mail.

Storage is filled with passenger luggage first and any extra space takes mail and other packages.  There is a lot of stuff moved this way, which needs to find another way to get to the destination.

The article you linked to claims that the freight was not ready to be loaded on to the cargo planes when the planes arrived. Which is more a local transport issue, and unwillingness of airport staff to delay the scheduled departure of the planes until loaded (although it could also be an unwillingness of the cargo plane owners to wait -- after all delays for a plane have a knock-on-effect for the planned schedule the plane is flying -- and for the flying hours of the pilots).

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[retroman_studios]

Also of note is that not all international shipping happens by air, some is by sea, and there is currently issues with many docks as containers are not being claimed or emptied due to lockdown, so docks are having to contend with limited space.