All hand-carry exports have to clear customs before flying, but the process can be tricky to navigate when transporting goods from Canada to the US or Mexico. Read on to find out more and learn how ACS Time Critical can help streamline the process.
How ACS Time Critical can streamline your North America hand-carry
All hand-carry exports have to clear customs before flying, but the process can be tricky to navigate when transporting goods from Canada to the US or Mexico. Read on to find out more and learn how ACS Time Critical can help streamline the process.
North America’s free trade agreements
The US, Canada and Mexico form one of the world's largest free trade zones, with a combined population of over 510 million people and an economy of more than $30 trillion.
The trilateral trade bloc was created in 1994 when the three countries signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This was replaced in 2020 by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a modernized deal supporting mutually beneficial trade and economic growth in the region.
What’s the issue with hand-carry exports?
While the USMCA allows free trade within the United States, Mexico and Canada, a separate pre-clearance agreement between Canada and the United States complicates things when moving commercial goods across borders in North America as hand-carry exports.
A hand-carry export is any commercial item traveling either on-person or with allowable carry-ons or checked luggage. While commercial cargo is typically transported via freight forwarders and clearing agents, hand-carry exports using an onboard courier are often the best way to expedite time-sensitive shipments such as products, equipment and replacement parts.
Now, this is where it gets complicated. The US operates pre-clearance facilities at major airports in Canada, with passengers processed by US Customs and Border Protection prior to boarding their flight. This reciprocal agreement helps simplify border procedures and facilitate travel to airports that are ill-equipped to handle international travelers, however it only applies to passengers and their baggage. This means commercial goods can’t be cleared as hand-carry exports on flights to the US from any of these Canadian airports:
- Calgary International Airport
- Edmonton International Airport
- Halifax Stanfield International Airport
- Montréal–Trudeau International Airport
- Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport
- Toronto Pearson International Airport
- Vancouver International Airport
- Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport
How ACS Time Critical can help
ACS Time Critical offers comprehensive door-to-door solutions for commercial shipments traveling as hand-carry exports from Canada to the United States, taking the stress out of the planning and streamlining the process. We’ll arrange for your cargo to be trucked across the border accompanied by an experienced onboard courier, who will ensure it goes through the correct customs checks before flying it on to its final destination.
We also offer solutions for exports flying from Canada to Mexico, handling your hand-carry as normal if it’s traveling on a direct flight with no stopovers at US airports. If the cargo needs to stop in the US anywhere along its route, our trucking service will drive it across the Canadian border to the nearest US airport before continuing by air to Mexico.
ACS Time Critical has a global network of onboard couriers, unrivaled knowledge of export regulations and access to a wide range of transport options. We offer a full-service approach, supervising your hand-carry cargo throughout and keeping you updated every step of the way.
Contact the team at ACS Time Critical today to discuss your hand-carry export needs.