Canada
Determining
if a Market Exists for Your
Product or Service
In addition to
trade associations,
publications, user groups,
etc., Canada is blessed with
an abundance of market
information, most of which is
available on the Strategis
website of http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/engdoc/main.html,
one of the best international
business sites on the WWW.
The steps that
you need to take are as
follows:
-
Determine
you Harmonized Schedule
Number - this is a ten
digit classification of
your product. Old
timers may think of it as
a Schedule B number.
This determination is easy
to do using: http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/schedules/b/index.html#search.
Please feel free to
contact the nearest office
of The
US Commercial Service
for assistance in
classification of your
product.
-
Return to
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrkti/tdst/engdoc/tr_homep.html
for online trade
statistics. You'll
have the opportunity to
generate reports for
Imports and Exports by
Product by 6-Digit HS
Codes. Click
"Generate
Reports" to begin.
-
Accept the
default settings on the
"Main Option
Menu" and press
"Continue".
-
In
the "Origin
Column" you can
either select US, any
specific state or other
Countries. For now
select "USA".
If you have competitors
located in other states,
you can check out their
activity as well.
-
In the
"Destination
Column", select
"Canada, all
provinces."
This way you'll be able to
tell where your products
are going. Press
"Continue!"
-
Choose
"Code Search"
and enter the first six
(6) digits of the Ten (10)
digit HS number you had
previously identified.
-
The system
will ask you to verify
your selection - press
"Continue" and
select US or Canadian
Dollars.
-
Press
"Display Report"
and viola, you now have
Canadian imports by
province of your product.
Note that you can also
graph the data or save it
for future use.
You'll find
this statistical data base
extremely useful for all of
your international trade
statistical needs.
Another alternative is Dataweb,
maintained by the US
International Trade
Commission.
-
Access the
database at http://dataweb.usitc.gov/.
-
Scroll
down to "U.S. Trade
by Partner Country"
and click. Here you
can drill down to the
10-digit product-category
level. Includes
year-to-date data at all
levels for both exports
and imports.
-
Select the
"Export"
Hyperlink.
-
Select the
2-digit HS Number that you
previously determined.
-
Select the
4-digit HS Number that you
previously determined.
-
Select the
6-digit HS Number that you
previously determined.
-
Voila, you
now have 10-digit
information on Canadian
imports of your product.
In addition to
statistical sources indicating
a market for your product, you
may wish to consider:
Date Updated: March 27, 2007
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