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Canada Customs Fees & Duties
| Message Board > General Chitchat > Canada Customs Fees & Duties |
| cooper User Info... | If an item is manufactured in the USA, then shipped into Canada, are there any Customs Fees? I just realized that any items I've ever had to pay Customs fees on have been manufactured overseas. Anyone care to share their knowledge on the subject? - Fri, 15 Oct 2004 10:49am | ||
| mactac User Info... | i've had lots of things shipped over the border. if it's music gear, you have to pay GST & duty plus brokerage fees. never, ever ever ship by UPS - their brokerage charges are insane. best way is through regular air mail. - Fri, 15 Oct 2004 11:19am | ||
| T Racy User Info... | Well, according to the infamous NAFTA, Canadians are not supposed to have to pay duty on most American and Mexican manufactured items. But low and behold, you still will have to at times. Perhaps because the item was imported into the United States by the seller. If so, you will be charged duty when it comes into Canada. Perhaps also because (as stated on the CanadaOnline/Customs website)the Canada Customs people may just decide to be "particular." I think that means uptight assholes, but I could be mistaken. There's also excise duty and excise tax on luxury items. Although there may be some guidelines to determine what is luxury, I rather imagine the "particular" people get to display a bit of free-range opinion on that. - Fri, 15 Oct 2004 11:50am | ||
| Anonymous User Info... | If an item is manufactured in the U.S.A. you do not have to pay duties. You may have to pay TAXES on it if you are over your allotted declaration amount. If you are absent from Canada for one week or more you are allowed an individual tax exemption on goods purchased up to 750 bux. You will be required to pay taxes on the dollar value that exceeds this amount. Phone Canada Customs if you have any questions. - Fri, 15 Oct 2004 11:51am | ||
| Uzer User Info... | Just be sure to use US Mail/Canada Post. Don't use UPS or you'll be stuck with brokerage fees. UPS sucks balls. :( - Fri, 15 Oct 2004 6:03pm | ||
| lonemonk User Info... | You'd think NAFTA would help you out, but it doesn't work that way. You see, we are the ones paying the duties, not the manufacturer/importer/reseller. Odd isn't it? Nafta wasn't made for us. Like others have mentioned, 'C'ustoms (Canadian or US depending on direction) can apply duties under some circumtstances that I haven't read up on. It will probably never be obvious why this is, or why certain products. The biggest scam out there though are the brokerage houses which couriers (UPS was mentioned, others are involved too) use to clear customs on large collections of goods. A brokerage house (Like 'King Bros.') can choose to levy a substantial fee upon any package they choose to 'process'. It may not in fact be a duty or tariff, but more of a handling fee. My experience with such companies has been that basically it doesn't matter whats being shipped, or it's status among international trade; It is rather an attempt to extort money. I have shipped zero-value and broken computer parts into the US for repair (marked heavily as such), and still had a 15-20% charge from brokerage who decided that would be a good parcel to grab. 15-20% of what is a very good question as the part was already purchased and was being repaired under warranty. (No repair charge even) Turns out on its way into the US, someone overwrote all my markings and retro-declared the product worth $2000.00US!!! A part with no declared value all of the sudden will cost $400US in order for them to continue shipping. Rest assured, the product will never be allowed on its journey without payment. - Fri, 15 Oct 2004 10:55pm | ||
| buffon User Info... | If you're receiving anything over $30, even if it's a gift, you will get charged Gst/pst and duty. If the parcel is marked $0, the custom agent can arbitrarily assign a price on it. However, they they screw up on a price and you have proof (receipt, VISA bill, etc), you can send it in and get a refund. If a parcel is from the U.S., NEVER EVER get it sent by UPS. USPS is better. For a $100 value parcel, UPS will charge you about $50 for brokage fees. If you have to UPS, use the faster air shipping,. It's a bit more for shipping but they don't charge you the brokage fee, just the taxes. NEVER EVER use UPS ground shipping. - Sat, 16 Oct 2004 12:10am | ||
| lonemonk User Info... | I had proof of the value of my goods; it was enclosed in the paperwork, meaning nothing. The purchase date was 2.5 years in the past and even the original value was not nearly the arbitrary value placed upon it. I agree that UPS ground is a big culprit, with high customs charges by default. I was more than relieved when last time I dealth with UPS, I discovered I had the cash on hand. Otherwise I could see by the looks of the Large black-man who covers my route, he could easily have pulled an arms off to cover it! Agreed: US and CAN postal services are the preferred methods. Surprisingly they offer the sanest and most cost effective route for delivery of most items. You heard it here first people - Sat, 16 Oct 2004 3:25am | ||
| ADL 01 User Info... | the NAFTA is meant for free trade (naFTa) between businesses. Most of the time you only pay no duty when you're a business purchasing (wholesale) from another business in the US or Mexico if the item has been made in the US or Mexico. If you purchase items from an american company and the item is made in Taiwan (for example), you WILL pay duty. But no matter what you will pay GST on everything that comes over the border. And the "brokerage fee" is a big grey area. It's just decided by the company how much they charge as it's their responsibility as the broker. UPS is usually pretty good for purchases under $1000. Anything over that, there are cheaper brokers out there, EVEN if you're using UPS as your shipper. And for people who mark their boxes as "Gift" most of the time, (other than Christmas) they (customs) will open that package and if they find a invoice, they will seize it and more than likely you'll never see it again, just a tip. - Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:20am | ||
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