It’s there a site or resource where, as a Canadian, I can pay an American to buy something for me and ship it to me? I know there are lots of international shipping resources, but the item I want isn’t sold online, so I would need someone to physically purchase it before shipping it to me. Sorry if this is a stupid question!
This will be hard to find legally.
As an American i’m required to not ship anything to Canada that would then be shipped onto Cuba. As a.Canadian if I ask you if you will reship this to Cuba you are required to answer no, no matter what (that is if you would ship to Cuba you must lie)… these two make is really tricky so such a business to exist as I can’t put in enough protection to ensure things don’t get shipped onto Cuba to satisfy American laws.
There are similar laws around shipping things to Israel, Russia ,Iran (to name counties in the news), mostly US and Canada are aligned on them, but specific details can be different and they matter.
Note, laws like the above change all the time. My facts are ten years out of date since I don’t keep up.
Semi unrelated question.
If you travel to Cuba as a US citizen, are you not allowed to bring anything home? Or bring anything on the plane?
You can bring things, you just can’t pay for them.
IANAL, but that was how it was explained to me. What’s prohibited is paying for goods (dunno about services).
Wha? As a citizen of the USA,I’ve been to Cuba and purchased and brought back to the USA many things.
So, to be clear, were talking about US nationals.
https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/topic/1541
Section 695, end of pp 2
Section 717 goes into some detail, and says authorized (non-tourist) travellers may purchase and import goods for their own personal use, as long as it isn’t tobacco or alcohol, or purchased from any of of a long list of government-related organizations.
I remember now that I looked this stuff up in the early 2000’s when I was in Paris and wondering whether I could bring back Cuban cigars purchased in Paris – it was no then, and still no now, but laws about spending in Cuba have loosened. OTOH it’s more strict in travel; previously (IIRC) you could go to Cuba as long as you got yourself there on a private boat, or flew from another country. Now, it looks as if all tourist (for pleasure) travel is prohibited - you have to have some charitable, authorized reason to go.
So, you visit as part of an educational or religious group?
That’s weird, because all I bought in Cuba was booze and cigars.
I’m an American who visited Cuba (legally) a few years back. I paid for goods and was allowed to bring things back into the US. There were just monetary limits for goods on what you were allowed to bring back in. I believe products like rum, cigars, and coffee were limited to $100-200, but I wasn’t asked to show any receipts or anything.
I too am an American who visited Cuba legally a few years back. My understanding is that the restrictions in question were loosened at the time, and have since been tightened again.