Canada Post Releases Zonos Partnership Details For Paying US Duties, Sellers Struggle With Growing Pains
Canada Post has released new details about their partnership with Zonos to help shippers comply with US customs and duties requirements after the de minimis exemption officially ended on August 29th.
As postal services across the world shut down shipping to the United States last week, US Customs and Border Protection released an official list of third party providers who are approved to collect and remit duties with Zonos and SafePackage being early winners in the race to help streamline the process to keep cross border shipments flowing.
Liz Morton
Just days before the deadline, Canada Post announced they were partnering with Zonos to offer a solution to keep shippers in business with more details to come - and here's how it's working so far:
Shippers currently have two options available for pre-paying US duties with Zonos.
- Automatic billing with a Zonos Account (preferred): With this option there is no change when it comes to creating a shipping label with Canada Post SnapShip™ or Shipping Manager.
- Manually pay duties with the Zonos App: Before creating a shipping label using SnapShip or Shipping Manager you need to pay duties via the Zonos app and receive a Declaration ID.
A Declaration ID is a 13-character code that proves you've completed the customs declaration and paid the required duties.
For the automatic billing option, shippers will need to connect their Zonos account to their Canada Post account, but the manual option doesn't require that connection - instead shippers will have to pay the duties separately through Zonos and then provide the Declaration ID to Canada Post when they package is handed over to Canada Post.
More details:
Zonos also offers a free duty and tax calculator, HS classification interface and other tools to help shippers navigate cross border logistics.
Of course growing pains are to be expected with any software that had to be deployed on the short timeline given by the Trump administration's executive order ending the de minimis exemption, so it's no surprise that sellers who are using Zonos for the first time report mixed results and some technical issues that still need to be worked out.
Sellers in the eBay Canada community forums are sharing their experiences, with some highlighting inaccurate AI results for item values and HTS codes causing discrepancies in duties calculations and others saying they've had no problems using Zonos for their shipments.
My maiden experience with Zonos/Canada Post - so far so good!
After conducting a number of experiments on the Zonos app, I became confident enough that Zonos was correctly calculating the tariffs on compact discs (HTS 8523.49.30.00) as $0.00 to turn shipping to the US back on for compact discs only. Because of the C$3.99 Zonos fee (even on tariff-exempt goods), I increased my shipping rate to the US by C$3.00.
I had my first US sale just a few hours later. Everything went smoothly on the Zonos app. I paid the $3.99 fee and got my Declaration ID. (On the 'confirmation page', there is a 'cancel order' link. So if you (or Zonos) make a mistake, you can immediately cancel it.) Apparently the only receipt you get from Zonos is a QR code on the confirmation page. (Since I have never owned a smart phone, that may be a bit of an issue.)...
...Zonos still appears to be erroneously applying tariffs on phonograph records (HTS 8523.80.10.00). Phonograph records are exempt from tariffs for the same reason compact discs are.
It seems like every time I open the Zonos app it asks me to relaunch because it's been updated. This is good, they're actively updating it.
At the moment, I can add (seemingly) anything, and if the Country of Origin is "United States" it's charging me absolutely nothing. Zero duties and zero processing fee. This is good. I hope this is how it will continue to work.
The main issues sellers are running into appear to be related to HS codes and the AI tools Zonos has built into their app.
The HTS code for phonograph records is 8523.49.4000, but if you type in 'phonograph record', it gives 8519.81.3010, which is the HTS for 'optical disc player'. I need to type in 'vinyl phonograph record' to get the correct HTS.
I've tried again to find the correct code for an antique and it requires the definition of "over 100 years old."
The best bet here would be figure out the HS code using another service (Canada Post/US Government Guide) and then fiddle with your words to find something that fits.
Be careful with the AI tool as it was giving the wrong HS numbers, and therefore the wrong duty, when I tried it this afternoon.
To their credit, it does appear Zonos support has been very responsive with multiple people in that thread saying they were able to get issues resolved by contacting support and some even having zoom calls to get their integration set up correctly.
Founder CEO Clint Reid also gets major kudos for taking such an active role in engaging across social media with users experiencing issues or providing product feedback, even when it may be harsh - many execs in his position would not get so personally involved.
Technically, it doesn't impact the duty rate in postal (for the most part). However, I think you are right. We'll make that change and we will do a coherency check on it. In the future when there is a new entry process, it gets a little more complicated but we can deal with that…
— Clint Reid (@clintverse) September 5, 2025
We had implemented a change that was applying the IEEPA exemptions which puts duties to zero (good thing for Canadians). However, after we made that change, the clearance fee remained. Thanks for pointing this out @pressgangmutiny ! and @connor_cvg for fixing so fast!
— Clint Reid (@clintverse) August 29, 2025
For those not on social media, Zonos support can be reached at support@zonos.com
Have you used Zonos to pay customs and duties for shipments from Canada to the US? I'd love to hear about your experiences - leave a comment below or contact VAR!
