my personal, tariff related purchase ended up not being tariffed at all... Bike cable housing from London, England... a smokin' deal, too! i think they opened the box to make the product into "Used"? the original factory tape was still on the end of the housings, both spools.
Tariff fears had caused their sales to plummet, and they were dumping the housing at just above costs... i thanked them for their prompt shipping and low price.
tech is usually tariffed, and the amounts jump around, from country to country. programming of the tech may call for an additional tariff charge, etc...
much of this could hinge on the US Customs person looking up the cost, and how their day is proceeding...

i HAD expected about a 20% tariff, possibly... after spending about two hours digging around in a PDF...
the PDF kept referring to previous decisions, superceding tariff levels, a maze of category overlaps, and tax layerings...

"Today’s scale of cross-border trade requires transparency and accuracy at every stage. MacRae said it’s up to the retailers to ensure that shipment data is correct. “That means every product description, value, and country of origin detail is complete and correctly classified before a customs officer checks it,” he said. Then, final fees are calculated at this stage, based on the type of commercial goods, their value and the laws of the importing country. "

This is what I am talking about. When the retailer prepares an order for international shipping, they have to fill out a for stating all of this. It has always been this way, in fact, when sending things to women I dated who lived out of the country, I had to do this. I also have to do this when sending packages to Thailand to my now mother-in law.

https://www.modernretail.co/operatio...mmerce-orders/

And this from the article says what I have been trying to say.

"All in all, customs officers rely on the retailer’s data to verify that duties and taxes have been correctly applied, so customers don’t end up with costly bills post-delivery. “When it comes to tariffs, what matters most is not just calculating the fees,” said MacRae. “It’s how those financial impacts are understood internally and communicated externally.” Typically, customers don’t mind paying for what they expect. “It’s the unexpected surprises that break trust.”

It's ambiguous in that paragraph for any of the things you claimed in your other replies.

I said the vendor needs to let you know how much the total is including tariff and customs, otherwise I won't buy from them. The linked artilce is one written for retailers navigating this process. The quote I posted tell you that a retailer can apply charges for the total, but if they do it incorrectly the customs agent can assess the correct amount and charge the buyer directly. I have done this and have yet to pay when receiving the item. I have always paid when purchasing. I do try to limit doing this though, but occasionally need to since I have a motorcycle for which some things are only available from Ukraine or Russia. I don't purchase from Russia now, but Ukraine is one I and others do purchase from. One seller from Ukraine does a very good job of letting you know how much it will all be, and adds it if they can, and if not they let you know how much it will be when you receive it so there are no surprises.

Okay, done. Purchasing from other countries has always involved the possibility of paying customs, though on smaller amounts it wasn't generally an issue, when it became an issue then, was when the seller filled out the form incorrectly. There is a lot of responsibility placed on the seller, and that is one reason many do not wish to sell to other countries. Some will do it, take the money, but not figure customs, leaving the buyer to be surprised. I will not deal with those sellers. That is what I am saying.

Feel free to argue against yourself now. I am done, and wish I had not even tried to help in any way.

Mfg in China; basically just resold by the company although they set some parameters. I decided the hell with it; I don't need the parts that badly.

Let us know how it goes.

I own a company in Japan which exports goods around the world. Tariffs are being applied to everything shipped into America. These tariffs are being charged to the importer (customer). America hasn't yet worked out a standard for payments, in some areas they are charging cash on delivery, others are accepting checks (it's been a long time since I've seen a check, much longer since I actually wrote one), while others have systems set up to pay online. The systems in pretty much every other country on earth are simpler, as they have always collected tariffs, customs, and/or VAT. I imagine America will get a universal system sorted out soon, which will make things easier for both buyers and sellers. Tariffs are on goods imported into one's country, and sellers exporting to America can't reliably predict how much will be charged, especially when the amount seems subject to change at a moment's notice.

Some sellers seem to have given up, unfortunately. I'm in the US and want to buy a special bolt for mounting fenders that only SJS Cycles in UK has:
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/mudguard...ridge/?geoc=US

But their country drop down in the shipping section doesn't list the US any more as far as I can tell. Very annoying. Now I have to try to grind wrench flats on to a Sheldon Nut instead and it still won't be as good.

Ben's Cycle in Wisconsin has this bracket set. The page shows 4 available. $13. Looks like the one at SJS Cycles.


https://benscycle.vtexassets.com/arq...30044865700000

I have not bought anything from Canada, but I did recently buy some Continental tires from the UK. The tariff was not listed by the vendor, but they did communicate that the courier (UPS) would charge an import fee when the items arrived at the US border.
All in, price, shipping, and "import fee," they were still cheaper than buying from BikeTiresDirect in the Pacific Northwest. And they arrived sooner than the tubes I bought from the BikeTiresDirect.
In my case I think the tariffs to import to UK from Germany and then from the UK to the US were less than the tariff to import from Germany to the US paid by BTD.

Ouch! :D

I literally have a package from Canada arriving soon that I purchased on eBay a few days ago - it cost just over $100 USD total including shipping. I just got an email from UPS (via eBay) that I will owe $29 in import fees!

-Gregory

I'm not sure if this is what maddog is referring to, but this is the list of all tariffs applied by the US; if you follow it "almost daily" then you should really get a better hobby.

I don't know why they would have given up. Most of my customers and sales are in America, and so far the effect of tariffs has been ambiguous. December of 2025 was better than the same period in 2024 when there were no tariffs. My figures for January are down a bit, but nothing near enough that I would consider "giving up."

:rolleyes: