Chit-Chats is a Canadian shipping service that consolidates packages and offers discounted rates to businesses shipping to the US.

President Trumps’ Tariffs on Canada and E-commerce:

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced plans to impose tariffs on goods imported from Canada to the United States. These tariffs will have significant implications for cross-border trade and e-commerce. Here’s what we know so far.

Update May 8, 2025

Good news! This week’s shipments have been successfully clearing into the U.S. We are actively working through the remaining shipments that are still on hold, carefully separating misdeclared and ambiguous shipments from those that are compliant. For any shipments that have crossed the border, the tracking will be updated shortly to reflect an acceptance scan from our partner carrier.

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.

Update May 6, 2025 Update on Held & Refused Shipments

As noted in yesterday’s update, U.S. CBP is thoroughly checking parcels for verification of Country of Origin, and immediately refusing our entire truck upon discovery of a single misdeclared or ambiguous Country of Origin. Shipments crossing at the New York border were refused again, and we are awaiting the status of the shipments crossing in Washington.

Given the amount of shipments that need to be verified, any shipments that have been handed off to Chit Chats, but have yet to be inducted, are in the process of being returned to their branch of origin to be physically checked before being allowed to cross the border. Furthermore, all U.S. shipments will be subject to physical verification before leaving the branch for a U.S. bound trip.

Note: Chit Chats exercises the right to perform internal checks on your package as per the declaration that you sign upon creating your account.

Shipments found to have been misdeclared or without the previously mentioned requirement of a discernable Country of Origin marking must be re-worked with our DDU options, or returned to you. Our staff will reach out to you to make necessary arrangements if required.

All U.S. bound shipments are required to have all products to be physically labeled with the Country of Origin. Learn more here.

In the meantime, it is recommended that you let your recipients know of these delays. We are working to make sure everyone’s shipments are compliant, and we appreciate your patience as we continue to ensure compliance. Introducing Expedited Parcel – USA

In an effort to provide more options to send shipments to the U.S., we have launched our CP Expedited Parcel USA postage. The workflow is the same as CP Tracked Packet USA as it is a DDU postage option, with more generous allowances for weight and dimensions, and shipment items. Learn more about this service here.

Thank you for your understanding. To understand the repercussions of misdeclaring your shipments, please visit the May 5 update.

Update May, 5, 2025 Delays Caused by Misdeclared Shipments

As you know, Chinese-origin goods have been excluded from de minimis entry into the United States as of May 2. Our border-crossings on Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May 3 were denied due to some shipments being misdeclared but were in fact of Chinese (including Hong Kong, Macau) origin.

It is crucial to note that misdeclaring your shipments is a serious offense. Why Accurate Declarations Matter & Repercussions

  • Any discovered misdeclared shipments during a CBP (U.S. customs) inspection will result in the entire truck being turned around. In other words, the action of misdeclaring your shipment not only affects you, but all other Chit Chats clients on the same border-crossing.
  • To protect compliant shippers and keep operations running smoothly, we will be implementing the following penalties if you are found to misdeclare the Country of Origin, value, or any other shipment detail intended to evade tariffs by your local branch or during CBP inspection. All of the following penalties can occur even on your first offense:
    • $1000 CAD Chit Chats Administrative Fee
    • Disposal of misdeclared shipments
    • Termination of your Chit Chats account (CBP will retain your information, making any future attempts to circumvent tariffs highly likely to fail.)
  • Beyond our internal measures, CBP can impose civil penalties up to $50,000 USD and bar you from shipping to the U.S. in the future—regardless of carrier or method.

Key Reminders:

  • If not already, all shipments crossing the U.S. border must have all products physically labeled in order to indicate the Country of Origin. You can use a tag or sticker on the item. This is required to avoid any confusion or assumptions during inspections.
  • All fields—Country of Origin, value, etc—must be accurate and fully completed.
  • Manufacturer information is required only for the U.S. DDP postage

Accurate declaration of every shipment is non-negotiable. To ensure your Country of Origin is determined correctly—and to explore all your tariff-related shipping options—please review our detailed support articles:

  • What is the Country of Origin (COO) and how do I determine it?
  • What are Tariffs and How are they Calculated?
  • What is Manufacturer Information and Do I Need it?

If you have any further questions, feel free to get in touch with your local branch or our client support team.

We extend our apologies to all clients who correctly declared their shipments yet still experienced delays. Please know we’re actively identifying and removing misdeclared packages from our trucks so that we can promptly schedule an additional border crossing for compliant goods. Thank you for your patience as we work to restore smooth service. Chit Chats U.S. Select will be exempt from the U.S. DDP Postage type

For clients in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, please note that Chit Chats U.S. Select will temporarily not support U.S. DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) tariff prepayment while we finalize the logistics for this service.

  • If your shipment contains tariffed goods (Chinese-origin) and you wish to prepay duties, you can use any USPS-based service except U.S. Select.
  • If you have already purchased U.S. Select prepaid tariff labels, please refund them and purchase a DDP Chit Chats U.S. Edge label, which has a comparable value.
  • If you have already dropped off affected shipments, your local branch will contact you shortly with the next steps.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to comply with U.S. customs.

Update May 2, 2025

As anticipated, all goods of Chinese origin—including those from Hong Kong and Macau—are no longer eligible for Section 321, de minimis entry into the U.S. This means that U.S. tariffs will now apply to any shipment containing at least one item with a country of origin listed as China or its regions.

In addition, we are pleased to announce that we’ve launched our U.S. DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) options. These are essentially our USPS-based postage services (Chit Chats U.S. Select, U.S. Edge, USPS Priority Mail, etc.), and they will require you to provide a valid HTS code and manufacturer information for each shipment. These details are essential, as shipments using the DDP option now enter the U.S. through a different process.

To help you better understand how these tariffs are applied and calculated, we’ve published a new support article. We highly recommend reviewing it to ensure your shipments remain compliant. Read now Key Points

  • For any U.S.-bound shipment that includes even one Chinese-origin product, you must:
    • Use Tracked Packet USA (Delivery Duty Unpaid – DDU), or
    • Use our Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) solution.
      • Tip: When using the DDP solution, consider dividing your shipment:
      • Any package containing at least one Chinese-origin product will be fully subject (all items) to tariffs, regardless of the origin of the other items.
      • Splitting your order into two shipments—one with Chinese-origin goods and one without—can help you minimize duty charges, as only the Chinese-origin shipment will be tariffed.
    • A valid Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) code is required for each product.
      • Invalid or incorrect codes will result in calculation errors for tariffs and delays at the border.
      • Tip: Use our Chit Chats HTS Lookup Tool to find the right codes for your products and cross reference with the official Harmonized Tariff Schedule website.
    • Misdeclaring a product’s origin is a serious violation
      • Any penalties, duties, or fines (which can reach up to $50,000 USD) will be the responsibility of the shipper.
      • Always ensure your declarations are accurate and complete.
    • Have your Manufacturer’s Information ready should you would like to use the DDP solution.

https://chitchats.com/blog/president-trumps-tariffs-on-canada-and-e-commerce