Well, Kevin, you should know that most of the reproduction parts for many vehicles are made and originate in the USA. It is common for a Canadian distributor to serve the US customers by shipping from the US to US without routing through Canada. I know of two local specialty car parts suppliers who maintain warehousing in Washington State. They bring their parts into Canada, as needed so as not having to pay taxes and duties on parts that may not sell in a reasonable time. These two business use a computer program that takes care of the details involved in importing. This simplifies the documenting and saves on a much larger brokerage fee. A broker may not be required if the paper trail is complete and correct.
I have to ask how you might think shipping charges from Canada might be so high.
Buying something in Canada with USA dollars has been a real bonus for American buyers. Our dollar was as low as 70 cents. It looks like the dollar advantage may be over in the near future. the Canadian dollar is getting stronger, every day.