Premium Paint and Coatings Company Saves Millions in Preferential Duties

An iconic American manufacturer of home maintenance products sought to improve its use of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) for imports into Canada. The company didn’t have an efficient process for soliciting suppliers or providing the required documentation to the Canadian Customs authorities to show that the goods moving into Canada qualified for reduced or eliminated duties. As a result, the organization pre-paid duty payments and requested refunds for up to a year afterward, tying up working capital and delaying shipments crossing the border. This case study explores how the manufacturer streamlined and automated its interactions with suppliers and Customs authorities, freed working capital and improved speed-to-market by efficiently leveraging the USMCA.