Customs fees experience?

[auld argonian]

Should I order the odd thing from the UK, what kind of customs fees might I get slapped with? I was just looking at getting a tartan shawl for wife for Christmas and am wary of finding a good price on it and then getting crucified by some dumb-@$$ tariff. Anyone can cast some light on the subject?

best

AA

[Colin]

I paid $32 cdn in duties and taxes when I ordered a jacket and waistcoat from Scotland. Interestingly enough, I paid more for the Scooby Doo action figures and luch kit I ordered for my son from the US. Free trade, huh?

[Woodsheal]

If you can get the Scottish company to send you an item through the mail (not FedEx, etc.), and as a "gift" instead of "merchandise", you will avoid customs and duties fees....

[auld argonian]

Oh, please...don't get me started on what a fraud NAFTA was (I speak as a big fan of Canada).

best

AA

[GlassMan]

But remember, even if it is labeled as a gift the value has to be listed as less than $200 on the customs form otherwise it will still be slapped with a US tariff.

If you are in Canada, I know quite a few Canadians who have set up PO Boxes in the US, have goods delivered here to take advantage of the lower US customs duties and then just driven over and picked it up.

Also, many sellers in Scotland already know the tricks. Last time I ordered a kilt, plaid & flashes from Scotland it arrived with $0 duties because they'd made sure to place the value under the customs minimum.

[Iolaus]

I got a call from FedEx yesterday, asking if the item from the UK was for personal use or resale. Since it was for personal use, there was no extra charges.

[bubba]

Iolaus, that's unusual. Given the couriers fees for collecting duty and such they generally go ahead and nail you for it. It also doesn't help that the duty lists are vague and somewhat capricious allowing inspectors to ring up inappropriate totals, maximizing the take rather than a fair collection.

[Bob C]

I paid duty on a jacket and waistcoat. I have ordered several other things, including my most recent budget kilt, without duty.

I suspect Glassman is exactly right. The jacket/waistcoat was over $200. Everything else was under. That must be the limit.

[KMacT]

I paid $32 cdn in duties and taxes when I ordered a jacket and waistcoat from Scotland. Interestingly enough, I paid more for the Scooby Doo action figures and luch kit I ordered for my son from the US. Free trade, huh?

The taxes mentioned would be Canadian sales and value added taxes. These will be paid whether an item is being imported or bought locally. So that is a wash. As for the duties, NAFTA trade rules only apply to goods manufactured in Canada, the U.S. or Mexico. It's a good bet that the item you described was made elsewhere.

Kevin

[Wompet]

As someone associated with the Men In Blue, here are a few facts people here might find useful.

US Customs officers determine the amount of duty to be paid based on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. That link will take you to the index of chapters within the schedule. If you want to search the entire schedule at once, the whole thing is available as an Adobe .PDF file here. In either case, you can search the chapter or schedule for the commodity you want, and the applicable duty will show up. Canada's equivalent of the Treasury Department should have something similar.

Some examples of interest here:

• kilts - no tariff, duty free (apparently the American kiltmakers don't have a good lobby - which works in our favor. Sorry guys.)
• all leather sporran from the UK (or, say, Finland) - 9% duty rate. Actually, I used tariff 4202.21.9000 - handbags. After all, how many Customs officers know what a sporran is? (Out of the 500+ I know - 2)
• bagpipes - duty free (no domestic bagpipe manufacturers?)
• clothing under $200 - duty free
• Auld Argonian's tartan shawl - <$200 duty free, >$200 wool/cashmere is 9.6% duty rate, >$200 silk is 1.5% duty rate.
• same shawl from Canada - duty free!

Oh, and one more thing - FedEx, UPS, DHL among others do enough international business that they are their own customs brokers. They know how to avoid incurring duty whenever possible.