All articles tagged with “Free Trade Zone Canada”.
A bonded warehouse and a free trade zone both defer duties, but they operate under different rules, serve different importer profiles, and carry different compliance costs. The choice shapes your drayage windows, handling fees, and how fast inventory reaches the dock. Here's what ops teams need to know.
Your 40HC from Rotterdam lands in Montreal. Tariffs are real. You need cross-dock speed. A bonded warehouse defers duty and moves fast; a free trade zone defers duty but requires zone infrastructure. In Montreal, one option is built into every broker's workflow.
Bonded warehouses and free trade zones both defer customs duties, but they operate under completely different legal frameworks. One keeps goods under CBSA suspension until clearance; the other treats imports as legally outside Canada. The operational cost and facility access differs enough that choosing wrong can cost thousands per shipment.
A bonded warehouse and a free trade zone both defer duty, but they're not the same animal. One ties you to CBSA-licensed ops, the other isolates your goods from the domestic tariff regime entirely. Understanding the difference saves you thousands in drayage and handling fees.