I recently shipped a Parasound amplifer to someone in the US, from Canada, and I'm just now starting to do a little research on how much he would pay for duty. What I have learned is he would only pay his state sales tax if the amp was made in the USA. Now, of course, it is not. I'm not sure where it is made but unfortunately it says so on the box. Now my question is this...What home theater / stereo gear these days is made in the USA? I believe Zenith is, but that's all I can think of. So basically I'm then to assume that almost any electronic component, that is shipped to the US/Canada, is not going to be excempt from duty since just about all of it is not made in the US? Correct? Thanks, Jeff
Anything made in NA and shipped from Canada to the US wont be charged duty according to NAFTA. According to UPS, US recipients will get charged a handling fee if Canadians use 5 day ground. If we use 3 day air, americans dont get dinged. Best of both worlds to pay for 3 day air rather than 5 day fground...going to the US that is.
It doesn't matter where it was manufactured. As long as it's getting shipped from the US to Canada, it's duty free. I'd assume the same goes in reverse. I've never paid a duty charge on any electronics. I believe the threshold for customs is around $200USD though, whereas ours is a wonderful $20CND. Anything above that you pay fees. I searched the US customs site and couldn't find anything specific on the thresholds. I also found out from FedEx, that if you ship to the US via FedEx Ground, it is you the *SENDER* that is on the hook for all customs related charges. This was explained to me in person and I believe I read it on the site as well, but have lost the link... Shipments sent via FedEx and UPS GROUND service do not include brokerage. Both of their Expedited services include the brokerage charge in the fee you pay for shipping. And as for made in the US, B&K come immediately to mind, and I know there are other manufacturers located in the US.
Drew, your correct, the sender can be on the hook for Ground shipping but they gave me an option so I made it the recipient. I mean, it's not right that I have to pay the taxes. Anyway thanks for the info. Jeff
NA is North America. Fyi. I shipped an amplifier to the US and it was $50cad difference between UPS 5-day ground and 3-day air. Drew is correct, air (expedited) includes brokerage.
Actually I lied...I just checked what it would have been for 2 day air and it's about another $100. But this is Fedex. I won't use UPS because they have their own nasty cross border fee which have nothing to do with taxes/duty. There's a lot of talk about it on the net actually and a reason why many Canadians won't buy Outlaw Audio equipment, since they only ship via UPS. Jeff
Anyone have any experience shipping/receiving FedEx cross border? I'm wondering what they charge for brokerage...I don't want to try just to find out.
Zenith is now owned by Philips I think? But I'd be surprised if they were actually made in the Netherlands. I'd put my money on ... China. Anyone know for sure? I have shipped stuff to Canada before. But the trick that I was told (shhhh ), is to somehow say on the box that I was shipped it new across the border, and that I'm simply returning it, back across the border. (A receipt is helpful.) Get out of GST or something. Not that I'm suggesting anything like that... Another trick is to just understate the value. But that might be a risk if it gets damaged or lost. For kicks, I know that all of the following are "made" here: Aragon, Acurus, Proceed, Mark Levinson, B&K, Lexicon, ATI, and Odyssey (I believe).
The only problem with putting a lower value for customs is that you can't insure it at it's full value. Jeff
And then Canada Customs doesn't believe you, opens the box and revalues it (the problem with not double boxing with a plain box on the outside). I bought my Yamaha RXV-630 from the States for an absolute steal. I told the gentleman to not bother underdeclaring it (since it wasn't that much and wasn't worth the few bucks I'd save). Canada Customs opened the receiver to inspect it (gotta love that yellow tape) and then I guess decided that it was undervalued. So when they drew up the Customs invoice, the amount they charged me on was 150% of what I'd paid, and the seller had included a copy of the invoice with the declaration. Funny though, when I got the receiver, all that paperwork was gone (the little pouch was empty). This is not an isolated incident. Canada Customs is getting a call this week since I have not only one, not two, but *THREE* disuptes to settle with them, since they don't seem to appreciate a good bargain and on three occasions revalued the goods I was importing. Two CDs I imported from Britain were revalued at 300% of actual (and declared) value. Sometimes I just can't avoid importing...the deals even after customs are too good to pass up. But really, it's getting annoying with this silly $20CND threshold. A gift declaration only raises that to $60CND. Add to the annoyance of such a low threshold (compared to the US which is $200US I remember reading; so much for free trade, at least the US has it right) the fact that they revalue goods on a constant basis and gawd...they're really starting to piss me off. But what can you do?
Wow, Canada sure sucks for that stuff. When I buy stuff internationally, it just shows up and thats it.
Regarding what HT equipment is made in the US of A: B&K manufactures their receivers, amps, and pre-pros in Buffalo, New York. I don't know of anyone else. Lots of companies like NAD do their engineering here, and manufacture in the Far East (typically with contract manufacturer). Best Regards, Al. Wise
