When trucks loaded with Christmas arrangements stop moving in December, you already know you’re losing time. And in this business, time is everything. Christmas doesn’t move, and neither do retail timelines. This year, it wasn’t weather that slowed us down, it was paperwork at the border between Canada and the United States. Two countries that even share the same country code. For years, the relationship felt just like that number, as if Canada and the U.S. were each other’s natural +1. That assumption is changing.
Doing business with the U.S. hasn’t become impossible, but it has become less predictable. Not because of customers or partners, but because tariffs and trade conditions can shift with a single social media post. What is compliant today can suddenly face new scrutiny tomorrow. For companies moving live goods, uncertainty is often more damaging than regulation itself.
In today’s geopolitical environment, rules are being enforced with a different mindset. Border officers are doing a dilligent job, but the operating reality has changed. Where pragmatism once helped keep supply chains moving, every detail is now examined closely. We experienced this firsthand when several trucks were held at the border around Christmas after Chinese characters on a small component triggered additional inspections, despite full compliance and documentation. Hours turned into days. Days became more than a week. For live goods tied to a fixed retail window, delays don’t just slow business, they jeopardize value.
