Trade Basics: how goods cross borders

What is importing and exporting?

In simple words

If you buy a toy made in another country, the toy had to cross a border to reach you. At the border, a guard checks what it is, where it came from, and whether any tax is owed. Importing is bringing things in. Exporting is sending things out.

Before this course: none. This is the Beginner step. The next course is Import, Export & Small Trading Business (course 2.25), which goes deeper into Incoterms, HS codes, landed cost and payments.

Key facts

Importing = bringing goods into a country. Exporting = sending goods out to a buyer in another country. One shipment is an export for one country and an import for the other.
In Canada, the CBSA defines commercial goods as goods imported into Canada for business use, resale or work.
Who is who, using Canada's CBSA words (other countries use similar roles; see In your country below):
Importer: the person or business that brings the goods into Canada or causes them to be imported.
Importer of record: the party named as importer on the customs declaration; it identifies itself with a business number.
Owner: whoever holds legal title when the CBSA releases the goods.
Carrier: the company that moves the goods (truck, ship, plane, courier).
Customs broker: a CBSA-licensed professional who can submit the customs declaration for the importer.
In Canada, release means the CBSA authorizes the goods to leave customs control and be used in Canada. Accounting means submitting a complete customs declaration.
In Canada, duties and taxes are collected through CBSA's system, called CARM (CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management).
In Canada, the CBSA's own guide to importing commercial goods has nine steps: decide if you are importing; gather goods information; select duties and taxes; set up to import; ship and report; release and pay; make changes; review the checklist; follow compliance guidance.

In your country

The agency is the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Commercial importers need a business number (BN9) and an import-export program (RM) account, registered in the CARM Client Portal before the first shipment.
Source: CBSA, step-by-step guide to importing commercial goods: www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/guide-eng.html
Source: CBSA, register or modify a CARM account: www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/services/carm/register-modify-

The agency is US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CBP does not require an importer to have a licence or permit, but other agencies may require one depending on the product.
Customs forms ask for your IRS business number (EIN) or, for an individual without a business, your Social Security number. If you have neither, you can request a CBP-assigned number on CBP Form 5106.
Source: CBP, Tips for new importers and exporters: www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/importer-exporter-tips
Source: CBP, Importer Create/Update Identity Form (5106) FAQ: www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/entry-summary/cbp-form-5106/

The agency is the Bureau of Customs. The law is the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (RA 10863). The declarant may be the importer, the exporter or a customs broker acting for the importer.
Goods are released when duties, taxes and other lawful charges have been paid or secured and the other laws and rules are complied with (Section 431).
Source: RA 10863 text: lawphil.net/statutes/repacts/ra2016/ra_10863_2016.html

The agency is the General Administration of Customs (海关总署). A business that handles customs declarations must register with customs. Importers and exporters register with the local customs office where they are located. Customs Order No. 221 of 2014 has since been amended, so use the current version.
Source: Provisions on Registration of Customs Declaration Units (gov.cn): www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2014/content_2697081.htm

The agency is Japan Customs (Ministry of Finance). Anyone who imports goods files an import declaration with Customs, directly or through a customs broker, and can file electronically through NACCS. Customs issues the import permit after duties and taxes are paid.
Source: Japan Customs, Import Clearance Procedures for Personal Import: www.customs.go.jp/english/c-answer_e/kojin/3002_e.htm

The agency is the Korea Customs Service. The owner of the goods or a customs broker files the declaration electronically through UNI-PASS. After the declaration is accepted, duties and taxes are paid; paying in advance is the norm.
Source: Invest Korea, customs clearance procedures: www.investkorea.org/ik-en/cntnts/i-403/web.do
Source: Korea Customs Service English homepage: www.customs.go.kr/english/main.do

Step by step

Write one sentence: "An import is..." and one: "An export is..." in your own words.
Imagine a box of 20 wooden toys made in the Philippines and sold in Canada. Write who is the exporter and who is the importer.
List who else touches the box: carrier, customs broker, customs officer.
Open the CBSA step-by-step guide to importing commercial goods and read the nine step titles.
Copy the nine steps into your own notes in your own words.
Check: you can name the importer, the carrier and the broker in your example, and say what "release" means.

Watch on YouTube

Are you an importer? Get ready to use CARM, Canada's new system for paying duties and taxesCFIB-FCEI · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01What is importing and exporting?

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:00

Voice

Read the video script

[Host holding a small box] "This box crossed a border. Somebody imported it, and somebody exported it."
[Text on screen: Importer, carrier, broker, customs] "Four players: the importer, the carrier who moves it, a broker who can do the paperwork, and customs who check it."
[Text on screen: Release, then accounting] "Customs first releases the goods. Then a customs declaration is completed and duties and taxes are paid."
[Host] "Learn the words first. The rest gets much easier."

Try it now

Draw a simple picture of one shipment from a seller in one country to a buyer in another. Label the exporter, importer, carrier, broker and customs, and write one sentence for each.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Trade Basics: how goods cross borders" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "What is importing and exporting?".

What the lesson teaches:
- Importing = bringing goods into a country. Exporting = sending goods out to a buyer in another country. One shipment is an export for one country and an import for the other.
- In Canada, the CBSA defines commercial goods as goods imported into Canada for business use, resale or work.
- Who is who, using Canada's CBSA words (other countries use similar roles; see In your country below):
- Importer: the person or business that brings the goods into Canada or causes them to be imported.
- Importer of record: the party named as importer on the customs declaration; it identifies itself with a business number.
- Owner: whoever holds legal title when the CBSA releases the goods.
- Carrier: the company that moves the goods (truck, ship, plane, courier).

The exercise I'm working on:
Draw a simple picture of one shipment from a seller in one country to a buyer in another. Label the exporter, importer, carrier, broker and customs, and write one sentence for each.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "What is importing and exporting?" from the course "Trade Basics: how goods cross borders".

Here's what the lesson says:
If you buy a toy made in another country, the toy had to cross a border to reach you. At the border, a guard checks what it is, where it came from, and whether any tax is owed. Importing is bringing things in. Exporting is sending things out.

The activity:
Draw a simple picture of one shipment from a seller in one country to a buyer in another. Label the exporter, importer, carrier, broker and customs, and write one sentence for each.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.

Open Claude

Sources

CBSA, Step-by-step guide to importing commercial goods: www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/guide-eng.html
CBSA, Importing commercial goods: Step 1, decide if you are importing: www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/guide-1-eng.html

My notes

I learned this