Import Duties/Fees etc.

richardp69

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Any experts out there???? I've bought several pretty nice guitars from overseas and still don't know how it works. I do remember when one came to me via UPS, it came with a fairly hefty additional bill for duties etc. I've had several others arrive via USPS and there were no additional fees. (some of that may be that I'm in a really rural are and the PO folks likely don't see much of that type thing and also likely don't understand the process)-good for me I guess).

I'm interested in a couple more from Europe but they are pretty pricey and if possible, I'd like to know what I may be in for if I decide to go ahead with it.

Any help appreciated.
 

steve488

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Wow - 2 days & no takers. My only experience is from the commercial side years ago but it seems to be the factors were the specific item (was it controlled with a specific duty or not or if there were penalties of some type), quantity and declared value. I recall a case where a manufacturer of a specific product had been identified as "dumping" here in the US, therefore a penalty duty was applied. A company tried to ship in some of that product using something other than the trade name on the customs forms. When the material was identified the "duty" came out to about 900% of the declared value. Somehow I do not believe the one or two items that you would be shipping would fall into that kind of scenario. Since I am unaware of any guitar type parts that are overly exotic (other than CITES related) I would think any extra dutys or fees would be minimal...... excepting something that was possibly banned for patent reasons - that might be a whole different story.
 

adorshki

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Sometimes I have the wisdom to stay quiet when I know nothing about the topic :)

I was trying to exercise the same discretion, but I think Steve covered it in a pretty good nutshell: It all varies according to the item and country of origin, both where it was actually made and where it's actually shipping from, for CITES purposes, which are distinct and probably in addition to potential tariff/duty issues.
It jived with my experience in export issues but most of that was over 40 years ago and the most recent is about 7 or 8 years ago.
Richard, it occurs to me you may want to actually check with Customs on the specific items to see if there's anything you "need to know" about either duties or potential CITES issues.
 
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geoguy

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I don't have any experience with CITES, but with international shipping, the shipper typically needs to prepare a "commercial invoice" that lists the commodity being shipped (in detail, including brand/model/serial-number) as well as its value. That invoice also needs to identify the shipper & recipient, and the "harmonized code" that describes the object or materials being shipped.

Google "harmonized code" for clarification of that term, and check out some of the shippers' websites (FedEx, etc.) for instructions/advice re: preparing a commercial invoice.

And yes, you may owe import tariffs on whatever you receive. There are some exceptions, for example goods produced in Canada/US/Mexico can be (or, at least used to be) shipped between those three countries duty free, if the shipper fills out the proper NAFTA form. Not sure if that still holds true today, given efforts to re-negotiate NAFTA.
 
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