A Canadian seller sending inventory to a US Amazon fulfillment center pays four things at the border in 2026: the base duty for the product’s HTS classification, which is zero if the goods qualify under USMCA; a 50 percent Section 338 additional duty if the product is on the Canadian goods list that took effect August 25, 2026, whether or not it qualifies under USMCA; the Merchandise Processing Fee on formal entries; and the cost of acting as importer of record, including a customs bond, because Amazon will not take that role. The Section 338 layer is the change that matters most. For a covered product, it now costs more to clear the shipment than to make it.
Amazon Does Not Act as Importer of Record for Any FBA Shipment
Every FBA inbound shipment from Canada needs an importer of record on the entry, and Amazon refuses that role for all sellers regardless of shipment size. Amazon can be listed as the ultimate consignee, meaning the fulfillment center address receives the goods. Still, the seller or a third party acting for the seller is the legal importer, owes the duties, and carries the compliance liability. A Canadian company can be a non-resident importer of record under 19 CFR 141.18 as long as it has a US resident agent for service of process, which a licensed customs broker typically provides under a power of attorney. The seller also needs a CBP importer number, obtained by filing CBP Form 5106 if the business has no US IRS number, and a customs bond on file before the first formal entry.
That arrangement has worked for years. It is now under pressure. Executive Order 14411, signed June 3, 2026, directs CBP to bar foreign importers of record from filing informal entries, to restrict foreign importers to single-entry bonds on formal entries unless CBP specifically approves a continuous bond, and to require a minimum level of US tangible assets or bonding, with enhanced vetting and CTPAT-validated filing. Most of these provisions require rulemaking, with the structural importer eligibility changes due by November 30, 2026. As of this article’s verification date, the existing rules still govern entries, but a Canadian seller planning Q4 replenishment should assume that the cheap annual continuous bond and the low-value informal entry pathway may not be available to a non-resident importer by early 2027, and should talk to a broker about the timing now.
Every FBA Shipment From Canada Now Clears Under Informal or Formal Entry
The $800 de minimis exemption is gone. CBP wrote the indefinite suspension into regulation through two interim final rules effective June 24, 2026, covering postal and all other modes, and the statutory repeal follows on July 1, 2027. FBA inventory shipments were rarely eligible for de minimis anyway, since a commercial replenishment usually exceeds $800, but sellers who split shipments into sub-$800 parcels to stay under the threshold have lost that option entirely. Every shipment now enters as an informal entry, generally under $2,500 in value, or a formal entry above that, and the Section 301 special duty threshold pushes some goods into formal entry at $500. Formal entry means a bond, an entry summary on CBP Form 7501, and full collection of every duty layer.
Section 338 Adds 50 Percent to Covered Canadian Goods, USMCA or Not
Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 was invoked for the first time in three July 2026 proclamations and imposes an additional 50 percent duty on roughly 569 tariff categories of Canadian-origin goods. The duty took effect August 19, was suspended for three days during talks, and has been in force since August 25, 2026. Coverage is far broader than the dairy and vehicle headlines. Furniture, plywood and wood products, paper, apparel, cosmetics and beauty products, seeds, fishing gear, and a long list of manufactured consumer goods are on the list, which describes a large share of what Canadian sellers ship to FBA. Energy, potash, fish, critical minerals, and goods already subject to Section 232 steel, aluminum, or copper duties are excluded.
The detail catching Canadian sellers off guard is that a USMCA certification of origin does not exempt a covered good. USMCA still sets the base rate, which is zero for qualifying goods, but Section 338 is assessed on top under HTSUS Chapter 99 regardless of origin status. A seller who has always shipped duty-free under USMCA and priced accordingly is now paying 50 percent on the same product with the same paperwork. For the full product coverage, exclusions, and foreign trade zone timing rules, see US Section 338 Tariffs on Canadian Imports: What Importers Pay Now.
The IEEPA tariffs on Canada that dominated 2025 coverage are no longer in force. The Supreme Court struck them down, and they terminated on February 24, 2026. Section 338 replaced them under a different statute, and any pricing model still carrying an IEEPA percentage is wrong.
What a Typical FBA Replenishment Costs at the Border
Two shipments of the same value, one on the Section 338 list and one not, produce very different numbers. Both are Canadian-origin goods with a valid USMCA certification, 400 units at USD $20, so $8,000 entered value, moving by truck to a US fulfillment center.
| Line item | Covered by Section 338 | Not covered, USMCA-qualifying |
| Entered value (400 units at $20) | $8,000.00 | $8,000.00 |
| Base duty (USMCA rate) | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Section 338 additional duty (50%) | $4,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Merchandise Processing Fee | $33.58 (floor) | $0.00 (USMCA exempt) |
| Duty and fee cost before freight and brokerage | $4,033.58 | $0.00 |
| Per-unit border cost | $10.08 | $0.00 |
Two points in that table are easy to miss. First, USMCA-qualifying goods are exempt from the MPF as well as from base duty, so a non-covered USMCA shipment owes nothing to CBP at all beyond brokerage. Second, the MPF on the covered shipment hits the floor: 0.3464 percent of $8,000 is $27.71, so the fiscal year 2026 minimum of $33.58 applies, rising to $34.58 on October 1, 2026. Neither the base duty nor the MPF is the story. The $4,000 Section 338 line is, and it lands on the seller’s Amazon payout as a 50 percent increase in cost of goods that did not exist in July.
If the covered product’s origin is not Canadian, for example a seller who imports from Asia into Canada and forwards to FBA, the analysis changes again. Origin follows the country of substantial transformation, not the warehouse the goods left from, so an Asian-origin product shipped from Ontario pays the base MFN rate plus any Section 301 or Section 232 layer for its actual origin, not Section 338. Sellers routing goods through Canada to avoid a tariff should expect CBP to look at origin closely.
The Document Set a Canadian FBA Shipment Needs
A truck shipment from Canada to a US fulfillment center clears on a compact set of documents, but every one of them has a field that causes rejections or delays when it is wrong.
The commercial invoice must show the seller as importer of record, the Amazon fulfillment center as ultimate consignee, a unit value and total value in the currency of sale, the country of origin per line item, and a product description precise enough to classify to the ten-digit HTS level. A packing list must match the invoice line for line and carry the FBA shipment ID and box count that the fulfillment center will check on receipt.
A USMCA certification of origin, which can be a standalone document or a set of nine data elements on the invoice, is still worth completing even for Section 338 goods, because it zeros the base rate and the MPF. The seller must hold the supporting origin records for five years. A bill of lading or carrier manifest with a PAPS number lets the broker pre-file the entry before the truck reaches the port; ISF filing does not apply to truck shipments from Canada. Food, supplements, cosmetics, and other regulated products need their partner government agency filings, such as FDA prior notice, before arrival. Behind the shipment sit the importer setup documents: CBP Form 5106, the broker power of attorney, and the bond. The field-by-field checklist is in Documents Required for US Customs Clearance.
Timing and Structure Decisions Before Q4 Replenishment
Three decisions are worth making now rather than at the port. First, reclassify every FBA SKU against the Section 338 product list and record which ones are covered; that determines whether the SKU still has margin at current pricing or needs a price increase, a smaller order, or a different sourcing route. Second, decide who the importer of record will be once the Executive Order 14411 rules land, since a Canadian entity without US assets may face single-entry bonds on every shipment and lose access to informal entry; some sellers are evaluating a US affiliate or a broker-supported non-resident structure with higher bonding. Third, front-load covered inventory only if the landed math still works, because Section 338 has changed three times in two months and Canada’s mirrored counter-tariffs take effect September 8, 2026, which affects any returns or inventory moving back north.
If you want the Section 338 exposure on your catalog confirmed, a non-resident importer of record set up correctly, and your FBA entries pre-filed so trucks are not held at the border, Clearit’s US customs brokerage service handles the importer setup, bond, classification, and entry filing for Canadian sellers shipping into US fulfillment centers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Amazon act as importer of record for FBA shipments from Canada?
No. Amazon will not act as importer of record for any FBA inbound shipment, regardless of value. The Canadian seller, or a third party acting for the seller, must be the importer of record on the entry. Amazon can be listed only as the ultimate consignee at the fulfillment center address.
Does a USMCA certificate exempt my FBA goods from the Section 338 duty?
No. USMCA sets the base duty to zero and exempts the shipment from the Merchandise Processing Fee, but Section 338 applies to covered Canadian-origin goods regardless of USMCA status. Goods already subject to Section 232 steel, aluminum, or copper duties are excluded from Section 338.
Do I need a customs bond to ship FBA inventory from Canada?
Yes, for any formal entry, which generally means shipments over $2,500 or over $500 for goods subject to special duties. Continuous bonds have been the standard for regular shippers, but Executive Order 14411 directs CBP to restrict foreign importers to single-entry bonds unless a continuous bond is specifically approved.
Can I still split FBA shipments under $800 to avoid duty?
No. The de minimis exemption is indefinitely suspended for all modes under CBP interim final rules effective June 24, 2026, and is repealed by statute on July 1, 2027. Every shipment now clears under informal or formal entry and pays all applicable duties and fees.
What documents does a truck shipment from Canada to a US fulfillment center need?
A commercial invoice, a matching packing list with the FBA shipment ID, a USMCA certification of origin where the goods qualify, a bill of lading with a PAPS number, any partner government agency filings for regulated products, and the importer’s CBP Form 5106, broker power of attorney, and bond on file. ISF does not apply to truck shipments.
