Country of Origin & Manufacturer

What is the difference between country of origin and manufacturer?

• Generally, there is no difference in origin and manufacturer. Country of origin denotes the country in which the item was made. Manufacturer is based on the address location in which the item was made. For example if the country of origin is China the manufacturer information must also be an address in China. 

I send bowls that are from Mexico but I purchased them from a wholesaler in the USA and they told me to use their USA contact info as manufacturer. Will this be accepted on the DDP form?

• We ask that you contact your US wholesaler to confirm the country of origin and manufacturer information. From the information provided, bowls made from Mexico would imply that it was produced by a manufacturer in Mexico and as such would require manufacturer information based in Mexico. 

What happens if I send multiple goods from multiple countries? Is that option available to declare different origins on the form?

• Multiple goods can be shipped that are of different countries of origin. You will have the ability to declare them by item line. Each item must also be physically marked with the country of origin. Read more

Q: What if I hand make an item and one of the components is from China, but the actual completed product is made in Canada?

• A: If more than 51% of the materials and labour was done in Canada, then the product can be considered to be made in Canada. 

Q: How do I provide proof?

• A: Most products have the country of where it was made directly on the product (i.e. Made in China/U.K., etc). In addition, you can also provide a commercial invoice or a manufacturer documentation that indicates the Country of Origin. If you sell collectibles or other products, it is your responsibility to find out the country of origin for the product and provide the necessary documentation. Note: Incorrectly declaring your Country of Origin can lead to fines of $50,000 USD at the border.

Q: If my product says made in Europe, what is the Country of Origin? 

• A: Europe is not available as a country option since it’s a continent, and the EU is not a country but rather an economic and political union of 27 countries. We would only be able to accommodate the product if you can figure out what the actual origin country is; in addition, the item must be properly labeled with the COO.

Do I need manufacturer information? What if I don’t have it? Is manufacturer ID necessary for using DDP? I spoke to a lot of my manufacturers from different countries (China, UK, Sweden, USA.. etc). And many of them have not even heard of manufacturer ID, and are unable to provide me with that information.

• Manufacturer information is mandatory to ship to the US with DDP. This includes
  • Manufacturer ID (this is automatically generated by Chit Chats)
  • Manufacturer Name (Company or Person)
  • Manufacturer Street Address
  • Manufacturer City
  • Manufacturer Province
  • Manufacturer Country (this will match what is entered in the Country of Origin field)

I see that some vintage items (HTS codes) might be excluded from needing the manufacturer’s information. How can I ship? 

• To access Chit Chats’ DDP service, we require manufacturer information regardless of the HTS code. Unfortunately there will be no exceptions to this.
• We do not advise shipping vintage related products if there is no clear country of origin marking and/or if there is a lack of manufacturer information. If manufacturer information cannot be provided, you can alternatively consider our DDU (duties unpaid) options. At this time, we currently do not have an estimate on when the service will be available until, however this service would be most suitable in the event manufacturer information cannot be provided. Only country of origin and a valid HTS will be required.

So, I have a 3D Printing business based in Canada. When it comes to declaring the manufacturer’s details, I sometimes use filament bought on amazon,  and the filament originates from China, if it’s still formed in Canada, do I still just say it’s made in Canada?

• Correct, since the actual manufacturer is the printing in Canada, the country of origin would be considered Canada. This is due to the substantial transformation of the filament (one HTS code) to a printed object (different HTS code) as well as the difference in value from the raw material to the retail value of the finished product.

I handmade my own items in my own home – can I enter my home address as the manufacturer details? 

• If you handmake and substantially transform your materials in your home studio, you can enter your address as the manufacturer business information.

So you mentioned that you need to have a label for the country of origin on items being shipped to the US. But if the item I am shipping to the US already has a tag from the product itself that states where the item was created, do I still need to put another tag?

• If the item already has a MADE in XXX Country label then another label is not required. The country indicated on the label must match what is entered in the shipment details for country of origin as well as the manufacturer country.

Does adding more than 50% of the value in Canada qualify a product originally made in China to have Canada as its country of origin when selling to the U.S.?

• If you are simply up-charging a Made in China item, that does not change the Origin Country criteria.

Can you suggest the declared value of personalized products?  For example, a $4 blank t-shirt (made in China), personalized/decorated in Canada, sold for $30. Due to CUSMA and the decorated work being done in Canada, should the declared value be $4 or $30? And what would the country of origin be?

• Regarding value declaration, it would be based on the amount that the buyer had paid. In this case, it would be $30.
• Country of origin would be determined based on substantial transformation to the product. Read more
• How do I figure out the Country of Origin for each product I want to ship to the U.S.?

And items must be labelled made in xxxx in some way for DDP? Vintage and other items may not have labels or tags.

• In addition to providing the country of origin on the platform when creating your shipment the item must also be physically marked. 
• How do I physically label and provide proof of Country of Origin for my products?

For items that are substantially transformed in Canada (I think it was the B option in the slides), do we also need to satisfy the origin percentages (RVC) if we are using originating and non-originating pieces to assemble the final product? Also, does the origin of the packaging materials matter (envelopes, stickers, etc.)

• You would need to satisfy the RVC calculations set out in the CUSMA Rules of Origin, but it would not need to be explicitly declared when submitting the CUSMA certification form. It may be required to present to an authoritative body upon request.