Manufacturer information refers to the details of your product’s manufacturer. With the introduction of U.S. tariffs in early 2025, this information is required only for U.S. DDP postage when shipping products with a Country of Origin (COO) subject to these tariffs.

If your product’s country of origin is not among the affected regions, providing manufacturer information is optional and not required for shipping.

Important: The U.S. tariffs are not being imposed on Chit Chats U.S. Bound shipments; manufacturer details are not required as of now and will only apply to our future DDP U.S. postage solution.


Requirements for Purchasing DDP Postage (Taxed Countries)

To purchase U.S. DDP Postage, shipments must be cleared through a broker. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requires additional details to ensure that the applicable taxes and duties are accurately assessed. A key requirement is Manufacturer Information, which includes:

  • Manufacturer ID

  • Manufacturer Name (Company or Person)

  • Manufacturer Street Address

  • Manufacturer City

  • Manufacturer Province

  • Manufacturer Country


Where Can I Find Manufacturer Information?

If you source your products directly from the manufacturer, this information may already be available on invoices, their website, packing slips, or other documentation they provide. If not, you can request it from them directly.

If you purchase from a reseller, distributor, or third-party vendor, they may have access to the manufacturer details and can provide them upon request.

  • If you know the manufacturer, but do not have any details, we recommend using this resource to find additional information. 

    • Note: the above resource is only a suggestion and you may require additional resources to find specific information.


What if I Can't Find the Manufacturer Information?

If you are unable to locate or find your manufacturer information, you must use the U.S. DDU option, Tracked Packet USA. As tariffs are not in effect, manufacturer information is NOT required for any Chit Chats services.


What if My Goods are Handmade?

If you create your own products and do not source them from a manufacturer or reseller, you can list your business as the manufacturer. However, you will need to generate a Manufacturer ID (MID), which is required for customs clearance when shipping under DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) postage.

A Manufacturer ID (MID) is an alphanumeric identifier used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to track the origin of imported goods. It is created based on your business name, location, and country.

Here’s how a MID is structured, using CATRUNOR88VAN as an example:

  • 1st piece: CA – 2-letter ISO country code (CA = Canada)

  • 2nd piece: TRU – First three letters of the first word in the manufacturer’s name

  • 3rd piece: NOR – First three letters of the second word in the manufacturer’s name 

  • 4th piece: 88 – Largest number on the address line  

  • 5th piece: VAN – City abbreviation (e.g., Vancouver)


Examples of MIDs

Manufacturer

MID

Notes

TRUE NORTH CLOTHING
88 Maple Ridge Drive

Vancouver, BC Canada V8P 9Z9

CATRUNOR88VAN


LA VIE DE FRANCE

243 Rue de la Payées

62591 Bremond, France

FRLAVIE243BRE

The 2nd piece is two letters as the first word in the manufacturer’s name is two letters.

20TH CENTURY TECHNOLOGIES

5 Ricardo Munoz, Suite 5880

Caracas, Venezuela

VE20TCEN5880CAR

The Suite number 5880 is used in the 4th piece as it is larger than the Street Address, 5

THE E.K. RODGERS COMPANIES

One World Trade Center

London, England SWLY 5HQ

GBEKRODLON

There is no 4th piece as there is no numeric value in street address

THE GREENHOUSE

45 Royal Crescent

Birmingham, Alabama, 35204

USGRE45BIR

GRE is used in the 2nd piece as English words "a", "an", "and", " of", "the" are ignored.


How Can I Create a Manufacturer ID?

  1. COUNTRY (Piece 1; 2 Chars)

  1. MANUFACTURER NAME (Pieces 2 & 3; up to 3 chars each)

  • Use the first three characters from each of the first two words of the manufacturer’s name.

    • Amalgamated Plastics Corp. = "AMAPLA"

    • Bergstrom = "BER"

      • There will be no third piece if the name of the manufacturer is one word. 

  • If the manufacturer’s name has two or more initials together, treat them as a single word.

    • ABC Company, A.B.C. Company, and A B C Company =  "ABCCOM."

  1. LARGEST NUMBER ON THE ADDRESS LINE (Piece 4; up to 4 characters)

  • Find the largest number on the address line and use up to the first four digits.

    • 76509 Main Street Suite 1234 = "7650".

    • A suite number or a P.O. box number is used if it is greater than the street number. 

      • 321 Main Street Suite 5555 = "5555".

  • There will be no fourth piece if there is no numeric on the address line. 

  • If there are multiple numbers separated by commas or hyphens, ignore the punctuation and use the number.

    • 12,34,56 Akasaka Road and 12-34-56 Akasaka Road = "1234". 

  • Note: If the address line with the number is after the city or postal code, continue to use the address line number and not the city/postal code number. For example, German invoices often place the city and postal code before the street address.

  1. CITY (Piece 5: up to 3 characters)

  • Use the first three letters from the city name. Tokyo = "TOK," St. Michel = "STM."


General Rules

  • Ignore punctuation, such as commas, periods, and ampersands.

  • Ignore single character initials, such as "S." in Thomas S. Delvaux Company.

  • Ignore common words like "a", "an", "and", "of", and "the".

  • If the invoice contains multiple company names or addresses, use the name and address of the corporate headquarters (not the division or office address).

We know this process can be complex, which is why the platform automatically generates a Manufacturer ID (MID) for you when manually creating shipments, using the information you provide in the applicable fields.


Shipment Creation

When manually creating shipments, you will encounter the following fields for manufacturer details. These fields are only required for DDP U.S. postage once available and should be left blank otherwise. The MID is automatically generated based on the Manufacturer's Contact, Address Lines, and Country of Origin. You can always override the generated value by entering your desired MID after completing all other manufacturer details before saving. 


CSV Fields

If you are importing using CSV files, please note that our Advanced CSV template has been updated as of March 2025 to include the following fields:

  • item_manufacturer_id - 20 chars (required)

  • item_manufacturer_contact - 35 chars (required)

  • item_manufacturer_address_1 - 35 chars (required)

  • item_manufacturer_address_2 - 35 chars (optional)

  • item_manufacturer_city - 17 chars (required)

  • item_manufacturer_postal_code - 9 chars (required)

  • item_manufacturer_province_code - 9 chars (required)

  • item_manufacturer_phone - 14 chars (optional)

  • item_manufacturer_email - 70 chars (optional)


Note: Required fields are necessary for DDP U.S. postage only once available, and are optional for all other postage types.


Import Automation  

Easily streamline your imports with our Import Automation feature. Once you've found your product’s manufacturer details, you can save them for future imports. This allows you to link specific SKU numbers and descriptions to their corresponding manufacturer information. When you import your shipments onto the platform, these details will be automatically applied—saving you time and reducing errors. Learn more

Note: This feature is currently in beta testing and available only in English.