Duty Tax

[Paul Henry]

@ thescot... the point that you are missing is that the seller does not have any control over the duties imposed, or not as sometimes happens, so there is no onus on the seller to work out what might or might not be added on once the goods are delivered.
If you buy from someone, you buy on their terms, if you don't want to buy goods from a supplier you simply don't have to!
But the fact remains you can't impose on a supplier how he does business....

[Lyle1]

@ thescot... the point that you are missing is that the seller does not have any control over the duties imposed, or not as sometimes happens, so there is no onus on the seller to work out what might or might not be added on once the goods are delivered. If you buy from someone, you buy on their terms, if you don't want to buy goods from a supplier you simply don't have to! But the fact remains you can't impose on a supplier how he does business....

I agree, but only to an extent. I think you do have the right to specify that the seller not use a shipper whose business practices you find questionable. If, on a seemingly regular basis, the local Post Masters (agents of the federal government) do not see fit to collect duty fees, why should the buyer be subjected to the arbitrary fees (not calculated/imposed and verified by the federal government) imposed by commercial carriers. The postal services of both the UK and the USA have an acceptable service record, and the buyer has a right to request shipment by mail. If the seller refuses to ship by the method specified by the buyer, the buyer can exercise the option/right to buy elsewhere. More than one seller has changed established business practices based on the requests/demands of the customers. If enough customers cancel an order over the refusal to ship by mail, a smart vendor will get the message.

[Wompet]

If, on a seemingly regular basis, the local Post Masters (agents of the federal government) do not see fit to collect duty fees...

Small note of correction: The U.S. Postal Service does not collect duty. U.S. Customs collects duty after determining the correct tariff and rate for the item in question.
All shipments coming into the U.S. go through a screening process. Shipments in the mail make entry at one of the international mail facilities, where they are reviewed by U.S. Customs officers for potential duty, narcotics, currency, disease agents, midget smuggling, and other contraband. If it's determined that duty should be collected, it's Customs that holds the package and sends you the notice. You may have to pay, and you may not - general experience here is that you won't.
With commercial carriers, all of the shipments are still reviewed, but they may pre-emptively charge you duty - just in case. So Customs may decide that you don't have to pay, but the carrier says you do. And the carriers have been known to use the incorrect tariffs (intentionally or not) to collect a higher rate of duty.

Now, to go back to the original question:

Anyone give me an idea of what I am facing for a duty tax for a kilt coming into the US?

I've ordered two kilts from Lochcarron, two more from eBay UK, and even yardage from Marton Mills, and I have never been charged duty. All of these were shipped Royal Mail.

The closest tariff I can find is 6104.19.5000, "Women's ... skirts ... of wool or fine animal hair" (there isn't a tariff for kilts, so this is the next closest garment) - duty is 13.6%, if collected.

But:

... also request that they list it on the customs label as "Ethnic Clothing" which is supposed to go through without (much if any) duty.

These items are supposed to be duty free (I'm not finding the exact tariff at the moment ).

[ForresterModern]

Thank you Gary (aka Wompet) for chiming in as our resident Homeland Security/Border Gendarme/ US Customs expert. You can trust his work folks, 'cause he is the real deal, with the badge to prove it.

I learned about the "list it as ethnic clothing" idea here on the forum from someone but cannot remember who (might even have been Gary). I think it is a wonder that more of us do not request this when ordering kilts and kilt related items from overseas. Might save a lot of folks a lot of money, especially those getting hit with FEDEX charges.

Thanks again Gary.


jeff

[tyger]

These items are supposed to be duty free (I'm not finding the exact tariff at the moment ).

Thank you very much Wompet. I am interested in what you find in the way of an exact tarrif, when you finally locate it.

I take it that kilts, kilt hose, kilt jackets, et cetera are all ethnic garments and, as such, are duty free. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

[Chas]

There is another consideration if goods are shipped by Royal Mail from the UK.

The shipment is graded, by weight and value. Over a certain weight (I think 2 kg) it is no longer a letter and is classed as a package. The same goes for value. £37 or greater means it is a package. There would also be a customs declaration certificate as to contents and value. So if the shipper wants to insure the kilt for £400, he can't declare it as £36.99.

The postal clerk has the final say. If they say it is worth more than £37, they can charge the higher tariff or the shipper can choose to not ship. Some manufacturers might not agree to either lie about the value of the contents or ship them uninsured.

Regards

Chas

[Lyle1]

Wompet, thanks for the correction. Yes, duty fees are collected by Us Customs and Border Protection.

I could not find specific regulations about kilts and little about ethnic clothing. So, I called the local office of the US Customs Port Director. The person to whom I talked did immediately find any regs relating specifically to kilts or ethnic clothing, but she did provide me some information on processing procedure that would apply to this discussion. She basically said that if the CBP is not collecting duty on items shipped entering the US via the US Postal Service, it would not collect duty on the same item if were shipped via a commercial carrier. She suggested the following:

1. If a carrier (i.e., FEDEX, DHL) tries to recover duty that they paid on items shipped through them, you should ask for the “Entry Number” that would have been assigned by the CBP. You can then track that transaction through the CBP to assure that the duty was properly paid. If the carrier can not give you an entry number, it can not prove that it paid the duty!

2. You can specify that items shipped through a public carrier be labeled for IP (Informal Entry). When the item arrives in the US, the carrier would contact you, and hold the shipment while you would then call the CBP Port Director in the area where the items are being held. A CBP agent would then walk you through the Informal Entry process which would most likely result in the shipment being exempt from duty.

All in all, I think it would be easier to specify that the vendor ship via Royal Mail (if in UK). If the vendor will use the mail system, the buyer is free to find another vendor. There are a lot of vendors who sell good kilts. If a vendor can not give a satisfactory reason for refusing to ship via the mail system (particularly if you are being assessed shipping charges), I would not want to business with them.

[WClarkB]

I think it's a little unreasonable to expect the company you are buying from to be responsible for paying any duties or customs fees for your importing their product into your country. You are the one purchasing the item, and it is your country of residence that has any applicable duties that may be charged. There is a reason why the shipper bills the recipient of the package, not the sender.

You are the one buying the item, so you should expect to have to pay any applicable costs in getting that item to you.

As you can imagine I import things all the time from the UK to the US, largely for the Scottish Tartans Museum, but for myself personally, as well. Never have I expected the company or person I have been buying from to cover my own customs fees. That's the cost I take on when I choose to buy from another country.

I agree that the customs duty is ours to pay; our country --> our customs (in both senses) , our duty (in both senses) to pay.
However, I think that the exporter should work with you to ship the way you desire. I recently had to pay an additonal 30USD (on $130 purchase) because the company chose to ship DHL when they said they would be using Royal Mail