Tariffs
 

I'm considering ordering some parts from Canada (only about $100). Has anyone in the US ordered from them, and if so how much tariff?

Ask the vendor. You wouldn't pay it separately anyway. It would be in the price. If not, when you buy the seller has to report to you the amount you will pay, in the form of a customs payment, but that is not the way a tariff is supposed to work.

Also, keep in mind there has always been the potential for a customs fee being assessed even before the tariff war. The tariff is also assessed by the country of origin, not by the country of purchase.

You’ll have to look up the code for the specific items you intend to order in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) for the percentage that would be charged. Then you also have to hope that the seller labels the item correctly so it aligns with that code when being assessed.

My relatively recent example for bike parts were used cantilever brakes from Canada. Cantilever braking items are listed in the HTS, but these did not incur a tariff charge for some reason. However, UPS issued a $10 charge for assessing if a charge was applicable or not. I ignored their invoice and haven’t heard anything since.

Another for our household was a very nice wool sweater from Spain (new). The UPS driver waited at our doorstep to collect a check for just over $80 before we could take receipt of the item. I did not personally order it and did not know what the HTS code/rate was going to be.

The vendor will not know. If you are hit with tariffs, it will come from customs. The carrier (UPS or fedex) has been billing the importer (you in this case) while the package is in route.

I asked the vendor who didn't know.The parts (Chinese electronics they are reselling) could be coded with 50% or so AFAICT. This isn't a political comment, but I think this tariff thing is biting us in the ass and am avoiding it as much as possible.

The carriers are the big problem here. The courier companies will be charging you 'import fees' which bear only a vague relationship between the actual duties and customs and what they will charge you. You will get hit with fees that are potentially multiples of what actually has to be remitted to the various levels of government, if in fact they are forwarding these at all.

Many vendors know, and if they don't, don't do business with them. I know some people get hit with customs, I said that in another post. That has always been the case though.

Here is an example. I bought a watch band today from a company in the EU. They stated very clearly that the price included customs. So I bought from them.

Very rarely is there an item for a bicycle that is such a great deal that I would buy from a Canadian company rather than from my own country. THe potential hassles are not worth it.

I am not sure if I am following you correctly: The country exporting the good does not impose or pay tariffs. Tariffs are imposed by the government of the country to which the good is entering. For large transactions, there are brokers who facilitate all the payments from the importer to their government. On small things, some shippers will handle the "paperwork", i.e. collect the tariff fee from the seller and then pay the importing government or the carrier who will deliver the goods to the importer. Some shippers won't do this, and there are plenty of horror stories of where clueless Americans get hit with a large cost due before they can acquire their goods. A lot of the details of how the USPS, UPS, etc. were going to administer the tariffs wasn't very well thought out and has caused a great deal of confusion. Plain and simple, tariffs in the USA are a tax imposed on the importer of the goods and there are different mechanisms by which the importer can pay the government.

Are you sure about that? Tariffs are not taxes on the exporter, they're taxes on the importer. I looked at buying a jacket for my Greyhound from an Australian company, and they said they CANNOT roll the tariff into the payment, and that the BUYER, who is the importer, has to pay it upon receipt.

That's the opposite of how it works. Tariffs are taxes on imported goods paid by the importer. If you buy from a company in another country, YOU are the importer, not the company you bought from.

importer pays the tariff. it's always been that way. I'm sure we all miss de minimis, which I certainly exploited before this recent fiasco, but last year I was appropriately advised of and paid the tariff for a purchase I made in excess of the de minimis exception. I understood that would be the case and never even asked the vendor

this should all be made clear through the process of ordering and would be confirmed and collected by the carrier. I'd probably question anyone shipping into the country who can't walk you through it by now after everything that's happened

regardless it couldn't be much for a hundred bucks

I considered this company because they could program the controller in a way that I haven't been able to find elsewhere.

regardless it couldn't be much for a hundred bucks[/QUOTE]

It could be 50% and I don't feel like paying $150 for $100 worth of goods.

If tariffs weren't good for you and in-country business the government would not have imposed them. We all know that. I'm proud to do my part for our cherished US corporations.

It could be 50% and I don't feel like paying $150 for $100 worth of goods.[/QUOTE]

It might be more than you hope. I recently bought something on ebay from an unscrupulous seller who claimed to be US based but is actually in Canada, just across the border. It was $30 and I got sent a bill by UPS for $10. Not the end of the world but I was rather miffed that this was not clearly indicated during checkout because the seller lied about where they were shipping from.

Yes, I worded that badly.

The tariff is based on country of origin., paid for my the importer. What I said about the vendor knowing holds true. If they cannot tell you, then I wouldn't deal with them. Some people here are also mistaking customs for tariff, they are not the same thing, and customs have always been a thing.

Where is the product in question made?

Given that the tariffs have been announced on a social media site, and changed willy-nilly from day to day on a whim, or in response to "gifts", it could be very difficult for a small vendor to have any idea what the tariffs might be at the time your order crosses into the United State.

Once again, I wouldn't buy from them if they cannot. I understand why they may not be able, but still, I would not buy from them. I would look for a source in the US.

And again, here is a tool anyone can use. The vendor would have a better understanding of the parameters they need to input.

https://www.pinebill.app/tools/us-ta...culator/canada

I have noted an increase in costs when ordering through AliExpress. But still the cost savings still makes it worth while to make the purchase. This tariff thing is not new. Originally we built much of the USA's stability on it.

The USA has never been a Free Trade Zone...

take some time to read some of the category descriptions on the US site regarding the tariffs... then realize that short of a team of import/export attorneys, most folks could only guess at the costs involved, including you.

it is a complex and convoluted mess that even US Customs people struggle with.
and the tariffs shift with the winds, daily..... and loopholes abound.

Around 10 years ago I sent a set of Ritchey drop outs to Canada, I think it was western Canada and it cost 35 bucks! The drop outs cost me 35 bucks, effectively doubling the price I paid for them. Had I known the shipping charge, the drop outs would have stayed with me. Ain't nothin' reasonable anymore, and hasn't been in a long long time.

Yes, I follow it almost daily. The point is, there are very few compelling reasons to buy from a vendor who cannot answer the question, despite the complexity of the issue, and despite it not necessarily being any fault of their own.

Now, as in the case of the OP, if they cannot get what they want anywhere else, the programming in this case, then perhaps that is a reason to buy. I find it difficult to believe that one could not find a US seller willing to program whatever it is in the way the OP wants though. If they cannot then they have to take the chance. THe calculator I posted shows the applicable tariff.