Tariff Workaround - The "New De Minimis" Exemption

[Jurist]

I recently purchased an after market 3d Bob head for $317 from seller in Thailand. He unknowingly had to pay over $300 in tariffs and I had to pay $103 customs tax/fee. He has since raised his price by at least $100. Thank you Mr. President.

Something seems off about the seller paying $300...tariffs are paid by the importer (i.e. the buyer), so your $103 tax makes sense, but I'm not sure why the seller would have had to pay $300. Some countries do have export taxes, but they would have been in place for a long time and wouldn't be a surprise to anyone in those countries selling internationally. Sometimes, sellers (or sales platforms like eBay) will add the tariffs onto the price so that it can be paid on your behalf. That's actually a perfect segue into Lopaka's comments about eBay's handling of tariffs...

It's already happening on Ebay. It doesn't even say how much fees it will take to get shipped.

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The banner on international eBay listings doesn't include any amounts or rates because they depend on the country of origin, type of product, and of course the sale price of the item. EBay allows sellers to add tariffs to the final price so it can be paid on the buyer's behalf, which lets the item avoid being held up by the carrier until the buyer pays the tax. Because the final sale price is a factor, the actual tariff/tax amount is only available when the sale is occurring, i.e. on the transaction page. I haven't actually seen how it works yet on eBay, but I would assume it's just an extra line item on the checkout screen. If you're curious, you should be able to see how it's set up by doing a Buy It Now transaction on an international listing without completing the purchase.

 

[Zeach]

Ebay listings already have posted warnings about extra tariffs that BUYERS need to pay. Imagine how many people will pay Ebay Fees, taxes, shipping costs, and now Tariffs for inflated prices...it is time to cut back on spending. Glad I was able to get most of what I wanted before this crap happened.

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Same here, I am not really in the market for anything at the moment, I'm sitting pretty (for now) but this is sure going to awful for the industry I am in. I wear many hats in the snowboarding industry and this 'trump tariff' crap is about to stir up things in a way we haven't seen (well maybe covid a little)

 

[big bopper]

A heads up for Brits shipping abroad generally, but especially the US. The Post Office have just released their new price increases, effective now. Download price charts here You can ship small parcel to the US, guidance here. Health warning: it seems to be silent on insurance cover on small parcels. Fine print here.

 

[Y2K]

I’m curious, for US buyers importing Oakley items that are USA made (X-Metal for instance) these are US made products returning to the US. To my understanding, this exempts them from standard tariffs - possibly, depending. Obviously they would need to be declared as such.

“American Goods Returned (AGR) provision (HTSUS 9801.00.10), provided they have not been improved in condition or advanced in value while abroad…” yada yada

Not sure if this is a feasible loophole, or how they would prove increased valuations if they assessed the package.

 

[Jurist]

I’m curious, for US buyers importing Oakley items that are USA made (X-Metal for instance) these are US made products returning to the US. To my understanding, this exempts them from standard tariffs - possibly, depending. Obviously they would need to be declared as such.

“American Goods Returned (AGR) provision (HTSUS 9801.00.10), provided they have not been improved in condition or advanced in value while abroad…” yada yada

Not sure if this is a feasible loophole, or how they would prove increased valuations if they assessed the package.

I successfully re-imported an Oakley item to the US from Canada recently without paying any tariff. The seller was able to use the Zonos app available from Canada Post for all the customs paperwork, including declaring the item as made in the US, and it shipped to me with no tariff pre-paid and no issues with customs. The caveat is that the item was a set of custom cut lenses valued in the ~$100 range. Higher value shipments like the X-Metal frames you mentioned, which are the primary items of interest from international sellers for many of us, are a lot more likely to draw scrutiny. I have read anecdotes about buyers being asked for information no reasonable person could assemble to prove the provenance of an X Metal frame...things like the date and location of manufacture, materials and manufacturing processes used, material RE: ownership of the manufacturing facility, etc. However, the worst of those anecdotes were from the first few months after the change when pure chaos reigned supreme with US customs, so I'm guessing the risk of getting held up that way is lower now. I'm sure there is still *some* risk of it though, so still worth considering.

@Soulfulfrog does a lot of business across the US-Canada border and has posted in a few other threads about his and his buyers' experiences shipping Oakley items into the US. Perhaps he could grace this thread with such a post and shed some light on how things are going with X Metals and other higher-end shipments?