How to calculate/estimate an import duty?
March 12, 2015 10:22 AM Subscribe
Has anyone ever bought an item from overseas and had to pay a tariff upon delivery? Any idea how this is assessed? All the websites about this are so vague. If I'm spending $160 on an item, should I expect to pay a lot?
The websites are vague because import duties are very specific, depending on incredibly granular aspects of imported item(s), potentially even details that are not available to you at the time of purchase. It's not a flat rate, at all.
There are calculators out there on the internet which claim to estimate duty and taxes, and they may give you a reasonable estimate. I'm not going to provide links because when I have used them they have been wrong (but not super wrong--like, the estimate was $x and I ended up paying $2x). There may also be a brokerage fee imposed by the carrier to cover the cost of having the import duties calculated (or something).
You can also take a crack at querying the USITC's interactive database here (you'll need to create a free account), but let me tell you, it can be impenetrable to even a sophisticated layperson. You can refer to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (the enormous list of duty rates) here.
posted by pullayup at 3:18 PM on March 12, 2015
There are calculators out there on the internet which claim to estimate duty and taxes, and they may give you a reasonable estimate. I'm not going to provide links because when I have used them they have been wrong (but not super wrong--like, the estimate was $x and I ended up paying $2x). There may also be a brokerage fee imposed by the carrier to cover the cost of having the import duties calculated (or something).
You can also take a crack at querying the USITC's interactive database here (you'll need to create a free account), but let me tell you, it can be impenetrable to even a sophisticated layperson. You can refer to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (the enormous list of duty rates) here.
posted by pullayup at 3:18 PM on March 12, 2015
Has anyone ever bought an item from overseas and had to pay a tariff upon delivery?
Yes. We bought a silk carpet on a trip to India, had it shipped to us (in Oz, but same idea), and it came with a hefty import tax bill.
Any idea how this is assessed? All the websites about this are so vague.
See above - nothing to add. It's really very, very specific. Also see this story, for example. (As an aside, that Planet Monet T-shirt series was great, and I love the shirt.)
If I'm spending $160 on an item, should I expect to pay a lot?
Probably not - very likely not - unless it's a pawn in an ongoing trade war. There's no way to tell without a lot more detail.
posted by RedOrGreen at 3:31 PM on March 12, 2015
Yes. We bought a silk carpet on a trip to India, had it shipped to us (in Oz, but same idea), and it came with a hefty import tax bill.
Any idea how this is assessed? All the websites about this are so vague.
See above - nothing to add. It's really very, very specific. Also see this story, for example. (As an aside, that Planet Monet T-shirt series was great, and I love the shirt.)
If I'm spending $160 on an item, should I expect to pay a lot?
Probably not - very likely not - unless it's a pawn in an ongoing trade war. There's no way to tell without a lot more detail.
posted by RedOrGreen at 3:31 PM on March 12, 2015
I was thinking about buying a secondhand purse from someone in England for about $400 once and tried to figure it out ahead of time and just. could. not. I finally just bought the item and figured it couldn't be too much. The process was granular enough, as noted above, that I got a phone message from customs asking me exactly what kind of leather it was before they finally sent me the bill (about $30, as I recall).
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 5:19 PM on March 12, 2015
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 5:19 PM on March 12, 2015
Response by poster: Thanks for this info so far.
Ms. jlowen wants to order a box of 20 Fleurcups (menstrual silicone cups) for herself and 19 friends, in a "group buy" situation. This particular brand is only available overseas and buying 20 provides a sizable discount for all involved.
They ship from Andorra (but are manufactured in France, if that matters) and will be shipping to the USA.
posted by jlowen at 7:20 PM on March 12, 2015
Ms. jlowen wants to order a box of 20 Fleurcups (menstrual silicone cups) for herself and 19 friends, in a "group buy" situation. This particular brand is only available overseas and buying 20 provides a sizable discount for all involved.
They ship from Andorra (but are manufactured in France, if that matters) and will be shipping to the USA.
posted by jlowen at 7:20 PM on March 12, 2015
Menstrual cups don't appear to have a specific HTSUS heading. They also don't appear in the the CBP rulings database. However, a possible HTSUS heading might be 9619.00.9000:
Sanitary towels (pads) and tampons, diapers and diaper liners for babies and similar articles, of any material: Other
The general rate of duty for items under this heading is 7% of the value of the items. Here's a description of how CBP determines value in most cases.
Again, this rate of 7% assumes that the correct tariff heading is indeed 9619.00.9000. If CBP views the silicone as plastic than the HTSUS heading would be 9619.00.0500 (Sanitary towels (pads) and tampons, diapers and diaper liners for babies and similar articles, of any material: Of Plastics) which has a duty rate of 5%.
posted by longdaysjourney at 1:10 PM on March 13, 2015
Sanitary towels (pads) and tampons, diapers and diaper liners for babies and similar articles, of any material: Other
The general rate of duty for items under this heading is 7% of the value of the items. Here's a description of how CBP determines value in most cases.
Again, this rate of 7% assumes that the correct tariff heading is indeed 9619.00.9000. If CBP views the silicone as plastic than the HTSUS heading would be 9619.00.0500 (Sanitary towels (pads) and tampons, diapers and diaper liners for babies and similar articles, of any material: Of Plastics) which has a duty rate of 5%.
posted by longdaysjourney at 1:10 PM on March 13, 2015
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posted by yoink at 11:08 AM on March 12, 2015