Duty on imported kilts

[Jack Daw]

How about a kilt made in Scotland, but no customs charge? You get this with Celtic Craft Centre. The company is located on the Royal Mile (Paisley Close) and have kiltmakers located in Inverness. The company also has a location in Palm Springs, CA. The company ships the finished kilt from Scotland to CA, then on to you.

[Wompet]

Jack Daw, the customs charge is built into the price of the kilt. Celtic Craft paid the duty on the initial shipment from the parent company to the American subsidiary. If you could see what the cost of your kilt was on their customs invoice, and then compare it to what they billed you, there would be a difference.

From what Wompet says they are applied in a particularly arbitrary way and there is no form of guidance you can try to price things beforehand. There is also possibly an element of protectionism to discourage imports but when there doesn't seem to be any significant indigenous manufacture of tartan to protect it is hard to justify. The fact remains, however, that it is bound to discriminate against Scottish goods and it makes perfect sense for people to buy local as a result.

Actually, items from the UK, including fabrics, tend to have lower tariff rates than the same items from other trading partners. And there is guidance - the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Some of the problems arise in classifying things according the schedule. Certain of the express carriers take the tariffs that may apply, and use the one that allows them to charge their customer the highest rate of duty. Some of the problems arise with the customs inspectors. Previously, all of them were trained in the calculating and collection of duty. Unfortunately, with the merger of Customs, INS, and portions of USDA (me and my lot) into Cusomts and Border Protection, that training is no longer stressed. So if your package ends up in front of an inspector with, say less than six years experience, you're likely to have some problems.

...We've found customs to be sporatic, especially in the last 8 months to year. When the item is shipped Royal Mail or Parcel force, the package has a better chance of not getting stopped at ALL. HOWEVER, if it IS stopped, it could be held for 2 weeks until they find out what a 'sporran' is and 'process' the order and release it. That REALLY hurts when we're waiting for an item for a wedding. The fees can get a bit high as well. Hiring your own "Customs Broker" (an independant company who contacts customs to give them info to release your package) will set you back about $125 PER SHIPMENT, PLUS the customs fees, which are usually 15% to 25% of the items being imported. If I paid $2000 for the items, my bill will be about ($2000 X 15% = $300 + $125) $425. If I paid $500 for the item, my bill will be about ($500 X 15% = $75 + $125) $200.

When we are shipped items via DHL or FedEx or UPS, they use their own customs broker ($25 for broker + customs fees), but it gets hit with fees every package. The UPSIDE is that it gets released much quicker.

This is another aspect of the express carriers. Every package on one of their planes or trucks has to be manifested and properly classified by their broker. Customs can "inspect" the cargo before it arrives. Mail, on the other hand, is still sorted by hand - customs declarations read, quick decision made, and released or held - for hundreds of packages at a time. The time factor does allow more items to get through without duty being charged, but if the inspector sees an item description he doesn't know, he's more likely to grab and hold it to check later, than to let it go.

Oh, and Rocky, I know a US Fish and Wildlife Inspector who had a seized sporran that he didn't know what it was. He only knew that it had sealskin on it.
(To his credit - he didn't seize it himself. It was part of that office's training/public awareness collection.)

[Riverkilt]

I know from buying ten hand sewn kilts from Kathy Lare that occasionally she has been surprised by the customs on the fabric when it arrives and its cost me a bit extra. I'm sure having her trained in Scotland, but sewing the kilts in Albuquerque, saves quite a bit on customs while at the same time still giving me cloth from Scotland and a kilt sewn in the traditional Scottish manner - or at least as taught by Keith Kilt School.

Ron

[David Duncan]

The US is not the only country to impose import duties on Scottish made kilts and accessories, Australia, Canada, and South Africa to name but a few, do likewise.

Perhaps it would be wise to check with customs before buying from overseas.

Kind Regards,

David.

www.your-kilt.com

[Jack Daw]

Jack Daw, the customs charge is built into the price of the kilt. Celtic Craft paid the duty on the initial shipment from the parent company to the American subsidiary. If you could see what the cost of your kilt was on their customs invoice, and then compare it to what they billed you, there would be a difference.
Actually, items from the UK, including fabrics, tend to have lower tariff rates than the same items from other trading partners. And there is guidance - the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Some of the problems arise in classifying things according the schedule. Certain of the express carriers take the tariffs that may apply, and use the one that allows them to charge their customer the highest rate of duty. Some of the problems arise with the customs inspectors. Previously, all of them were trained in the calculating and collection of duty. Unfortunately, with the merger of Customs, INS, and portions of USDA (me and my lot) into Cusomts and Border Protection, that training is no longer stressed. So if your package ends up in front of an inspector with, say less than six years experience, you're likely to have some problems.

This is another aspect of the express carriers. Every package on one of their planes or trucks has to be manifested and properly classified by their broker. Customs can "inspect" the cargo before it arrives. Mail, on the other hand, is still sorted by hand - customs declarations read, quick decision made, and released or held - for hundreds of packages at a time. The time factor does allow more items to get through without duty being charged, but if the inspector sees an item description he doesn't know, he's more likely to grab and hold it to check later, than to let it go.

Oh, and Rocky, I know a US Fish and Wildlife Inspector who had a seized sporran that he didn't know what it was. He only knew that it had sealskin on it.
(To his credit - he didn't seize it himself. It was part of that office's training/public awareness collection.)

The prices I've paid have been comparable to what I've gotten charged by American kiltmakers.

[Smayniac]

I'm confused, McMurdo says he was charged duty on products from Matt Newsome, where does this fall in regard to NAFTA, which was mentioned briefly, but not followed up? What is the deal on materials or goods shipped between the U.S. and Canada (or Mexico for that matter)?

Bob

[RockyR]

From my understanding, Canadian residents ARE charged customs on American products (and vice versa)

[Bugbear]

I don't know... It's still kind of sounding like there's no good way to know what kind of duty charge I might be billed... Well, unless you just take the highest duty you could be charge and set that aside in addition to what you have already budgeted for the item. * sigh * Sounds like adding a hundred plus for something in the price range of a kilt like Tommy is looking at.

[turpin]

FWIW, MY first kilt from Scotweb cost me 12.5% of the declared value in duty, plus FEDEX's $25 fee for processing a "formal entry", which, I was told when I inquired, applies to any woolen imported item over $5 in value.

When I bought 65 meters of tartan on Ebay from the UK I was expecting the same percentage, but no. The Customs fees on material alone is 25% of the declared value. This item was shipped via UPS and UPS only chard about $6 for processiong the entry.

go figure.

[Ancienne Alliance]

We didn't have this problem so far with our kilts sent from France.
Fortunately !

best,
Lady Chrystel