🇩🇪 Germany → Canada · CETA (Canada: EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement)
Export to Canada from Germany, English sales representation & market entry
Germany is one of Canada's largest European trading partners, and CETA has removed tariffs on the overwhelming majority of industrial goods. German Mittelstand manufacturers have exactly the products Canadian industry buys, and almost none of the local sales presence needed to sell them.
The obstacle
What stops most exporters
German engineering sells itself on specification, but North American buyers buy on relationship and responsiveness first. A six-hour time difference and email-only contact loses the deal to a competitor with a local number.
Trade agreement
CETA (Canada: EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement)
Agencies and chambers
- Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (AHK Kanada)
- Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI)
- Enterprise Europe Network
Engagements
How a market entry actually runs
Market Entry Sprint
90 days · First look at the Canadian / North American market
- Market and competitor assessment in your category
- Pricing, duty and landed-cost reality check
- Target account list with named decision-makers
- 20+ first conversations held in English on your behalf
- Written go / no-go recommendation for your board
Ongoing English Representation
Monthly retainer · Companies actively selling into North America
- Named English-speaking representative with Canadian phone and email
- Active B2B outside sales and account management
- Distributor and dealer management
- Quotation, order and logistics coordination
- Monthly written and video report to head office
Trade Show Representation
Per event · Exhibitors who cannot send a full team overseas
- Booth design, construction, install and teardown
- Pre-show appointment setting with buyers
- On-floor selling and demonstrations in English
- Qualified lead capture with structured notes
- Post-show follow-up sequence and debrief
Process
Step by step
1. Discovery call
One video call in plain, slow, clear English. Your product, your target buyer, your price, your capacity.
2. Market brief
A written brief covering realistic Canadian and North American demand, competitors, pricing and the fastest route to first revenue.
3. Representation agreement
A simple written scope: what I represent, in which territory, for how long, at what fee and against which targets.
4. Sell, ship, report
I work the market and send head office a clear monthly report: conversations held, quotes issued, orders won, obstacles hit.
Questions
Straight answers
Do we need a Canadian company to export from Germany?
No. Most German exporters begin with representation only, you continue invoicing from Germany while I generate demand, hold customer relationships and coordinate delivery inside Canada.
What tariffs apply to German goods entering Canada?
Germany trades with Canada under CETA (Canada: EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement). Duty treatment varies by HS code, so landed cost is confirmed with a customs broker during the market brief before you quote a Canadian buyer.
Can you attend Canadian trade shows on our behalf?
Yes. Booth design and construction, install and teardown, on-floor selling in English, qualified lead capture and a written post-show debrief, the standard route for German exhibitors who cannot send a full team overseas.
How do you get paid?
Typically a monthly retainer plus performance commission, or a fixed fee per trade show or 90-day market entry sprint. Territory, scope, term, fee and targets are written down before work starts.
Contact
Tell me what you are hiring for
- Call: +1 519 278 5085
- Email: tim@timarmstrong.ca
- Based: London & Southwestern Ontario, Ontario, America/Toronto (Eastern Time)
- Availability: Available nationally across Canada, on-site, hybrid or remote
- Serving: London · Stratford · Woodstock · Kitchener: Waterloo · Cambridge · Guelph · Brantford · Sarnia · Chatham-Kent · Windsor · Toronto · Mississauga and Canada-wide