Customs brokers are cross-border trade gurus. With tariff whiplash,
they're facing 'toxic uncertainty'
Julia Pagel
| CBC Radio | Posted: June 8, 2025 8:00 AM | Last Updated: 3
hours ago
As levies face constant change, customs experts are struggling
to help people bring in goods
Image | TARIFFS
Caption: Customs brokers, the experts that help businesses
understand how much duty might apply to their imports and
exports, says tariffs implemented by U.S. President Donald
Trump have created chaos in their industry. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
(BUTTON) Load Image
Open Image in New Tab
Media Audio | The Sunday Magazine : Customs brokers are
cross-border trade gurus. With tariff whiplash, they're facing
'toxic uncertainty'
Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require
significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story
pages.
Dan Patrick De Los Santos's workday looks very different then
it did a few months ago before the Trump administration tariffs
upended trade — and his job description.
Before the levies hit, De Los Santos said about 80 per cent of
the shipments he helped to clear customs were routine.
But now, "honestly, it's just damage control," the customs
broker said.
De Los Santos works for Inland Customs Brokers Ltd., a company
based in Guelph, Ont. He's among the people who manage the
details for how to get goods through customs.
They help businesses understand how much duty might apply to
their imports and exports and whether they are subject to any
health and safety clearances. Then, their job is to file that
information with the government.
With the ever-changing tariff landscape, De Los Santos has been
working overtime.
"My job used to be nine to five, Monday to Friday. Now it's
actually been like 9 a.m. to, like, 8 p.m. getting some calls
[from] clients because they have a last-minute tariff change."
Since Trump's tariffs were enacted earlier this year, Inland
Customs has been trying to help their clients reorient their
business to new markets and decipher the onslaught of new
tariffs. Meanwhile, they are also helping customers consider
the future of their business if imports to the United States
are too costly.
Image | USA-TRUMP/TARIFFS-LAWSUIT
Caption: A U.S. flag flutters near shipping containers as a
ship is unloaded at the Port of Los Angeles. Businesses are now
sometimes refusing to accept imports, leaving the items on
ships and hoping that by the time the ship reaches another
port, the tariffs will be lower. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
(BUTTON) Load Image
Open Image in New Tab
Customs brokers are experts when it comes to the details —
their entire business is built around the idea that it's worth
hiring them to do your customs entries, because they'll get it
right. (It's a lot like hiring an accountant to file your
taxes.)
But with the constant changes, it's very hard for them to be
the authority on anything.
"We are like therapists now," said De Los Santos. "The really
hard part here is ... the phone calls of people crying. That,
you know, they don't want to pay this, [they are] devastated by
the fact that their product that they're trying to sell is just
being hit and … there's no choice for them but to just absorb
the cost."
Dave Coulson can relate. He said he's been getting calls around
the clock, often from people who aren't even their clients —
and they're all looking for help in how to navigate the
nebulous world of tariffs.
"I'm picking up the phone at 11 p.m. on a Sunday night with a
trucker," the chief operations officer at Border Buddy said.
"It's somebody stuck, and they can't get across the border and
they need your help now. And we're just all hands on deck."
'The initial reaction was just simply disbelief'
Industries had so little time to prepare for the tariffs, say
insiders helping businesses navigate cross-border trade, which
compounded the challenge.
"Those sorts of rules normally would take three-to-six months
to implement," Coulson said, noting that, in some cases, they
had days to react to changes in the levies.
* How the peaceful world of puzzles has been upended by the
global trade war
* In a small Alaska town, Canada-U.S. tensions are upending a
longstanding relationship
Coulson called an emergency company-wide meeting every morning
each time new tariffs were announced to get everyone on the
same page.
And it wasn't easy. The executive orders were ambiguously
worded, Coulson said, and it was hard to know how to respond.
"Even the most sophisticated licensed customs brokers were not
aligned on the rules," he said. "We were going to LinkedIn and
Reddit and chatting with other brokers trying to figure out
what does this mean? What do we do?"
WATCH | Exports to the U.S. falling as Trump's tariffs take
effect:
Media Video | CBC News : Canadian exports to U.S. fell more
than 15% in April as Trump tariffs hit
Caption: Canada posted a $7.1 billion merchandise trade deficit
in April — the largest on record — as exports fell sharply in
the face of U.S. tariffs. As well, exports to the U.S. fell
15.7 per cent, and imports from the U.S. dropped 10.8 per cent.
Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require
significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story
pages.
Regular way of doing business no longer works
Part of the issue is that the tools developed to help customs
brokers can't keep up with the pace of the tariff changes.
Elvis Cavalic works for Zipments, a company that has created an
online calculation tool to help brokers and importers calculate
duties or levies on their goods. But it's hard to create an
equation right now because the numbers aren't consistent, he
said.
Cavalic said he started out in the business because he believed
he could create a solution to simplify the sometimes elaborate
hurdles needed to clear customs.
Image | US-Cda-Tariffs-BC 20250304
Caption: A truck drives past the passenger entry point at the
U.S.-Canada border in Surrey B.C., on March 4. Trade between
the two countries has declined since the Trump administration
first started enacting tariffs this winter. (Ethan Cairns/The
Canadian Press)
(BUTTON) Load Image
Open Image in New Tab
But as the tariffs continue to evolve, they can't update the
calculator fast enough to reflect the constant changes, Cavalic
said.
"So something that may have taken one hour in the past could
take four or five hours," he said, noting they had to enter
everything manually. "You can't necessarily pass those costs
onto customers."
Changing work
De Los Santos saw his Canadian retailers quickly look for new
suppliers outside of the U.S. after the federal government
imposed 25 per cent tariffs on a host of U.S. goods in response
to Trump's initial levies.
And though the tariff doesn't apply to all U.S. products, they
affect a lot of De Los Santos's clients.
He used to source fishing rods and hunting gear for Canadian
outdoor shops from just across the border — in New York State,
but now he sees his clients turning to China.
"The irony is a brutal thing," he said. "[The tariffs] were
supposed to boost U.S. factories, right? Instead, all these
products we're seeing now are made in China or Vietnam …
American companies can't scale up fast enough."
WATCH | Duty free shops feeling the pinch of tariffs:
Media Video | The National : How Trump’s trade war is hurting
duty-free shops
Caption: After U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed a trade
war with Canada, cross-border traffic has declined by nearly 20
per cent. For The National, CBC’s Nick Purdon went to duty-free
stores to see the drastic impact on their businesses — and
their lives.
Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require
significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story
pages.
And other clients are in a holding pattern.
Coulson tells a story about a client who told a container ship
from China not to unload dog treats and toys in California,
because, at the time, on May 8, the imported goods would have
been hit with levies of 145 per cent.
Instead, the container ship kept sailing.
"They're crossing their fingers that by the time it gets to New
York, the tariffs will be lifted or reduced."
* Toronto pizzeria cuts out U.S. ingredients until Americans
make 'more responsible electoral decisions'
* Can Canada grow more of its own food? Greenhouses, vertical
farming make it possible, experts say
For that client, it worked out — when the ship reached New
York, the tariffs had been cut to 30 per cent, and the company
accepted the goods.
But other ships are still waiting, afloat on the ocean.
"They think that the tariffs could still come down," Coulson
said. "It's a ... toxic uncertainty."
More Stories Like This
The related links below are generated automatically based on
the story you’ve just read.
Loading...
CBC Lite is a low-bandwidth website. To see what's new, check
out our release notes. For high quality images, media,
comments, and other additional features visit the full version
of this story.
We and select advertising partners use trackers to collect some
of your data in order to enhance your experience and to deliver
personalized content and advertising. If you are not
comfortable with the use of this information, please review
your device and browser privacy settings before continuing your
visit. Learn more about Online Tracking and Privacy Choices.
* Corrections and Clarifications
* Terms of Use
* Reuse & Permission
* Privacy
* Accessibility
* Contact a Newsroom
* Submit Feedback
* Lite Help Centre
* Jobs
* RSS
