Import duties when ordering from Japan?

[mike kim]

Here's a quick question: I'm looking to buy a lens from a japanese seller, but I'm not sure about how the US customs handles these things. Does anybody have any experience with importing photography equipment from overseas?

Edit: I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

 

[elshaneo]

As far as I know, there are no import duties in the USA...

 

[Rayt]

Ask the seller to send it via the post office. If you use a private courier like Fed Up they will help the government collect the duties depending on the declared amount.

 

[Maiku]

There are import duties to the USA. Everytime, I mail something I sell and ship to the USA from Japan I have to fill out a customs form. I must indicate the contents of the package, the value of the item and whether it is a gift or merchandise. There is no way around it.

If you GOOGLE customs and tariffs in the USA I am sure you will get the info you want. If I recall correctly if the item is less than 200 $ USD then it is duty free, but do not quote me. Look it up.

Generally, everyone that I have sent a camera to has had no problems.

Good luck.

 

[Ronald M]

The US job market is losing to foreign countries because we have no import restrictions.
It is a political decision to allow foreigners to sell all they please in the US so they can use the profit to buy US treasury debt. The alturnatives are to print more money or raise taxes or reduce spending. Politicians always take the easy way out, but we are getting slowly getting screwed and nobody complains.


If you complain, you are labeled a protectionest like it is a bad thing. When in fact every other country in the world protects its industrial base like it was gold, which it is in fact.

Duties were removed from cameras decades ago

 

[JohnTF]

Well, we do have duties, but many are so small it would cost the government more than it is worth to collect them.

More than likely if you order something it will simply arrive, with or without a signature required.

I have posted a lot of things to myself from overseas, and have received dozens of other packages, with no one asking for duty.

I did have to have a chat with customs when I got 5000 sheets of custom coated and cut photo paper, but the guy could not find the exchange rates for Czech Crowns, and said to forget about it. ;-)

I think in any case it would not exceed 10%, might be less from Japan.

Trade agreements are not simple, and it would make little sense to try and protect the US Camera producers, I know some countries have economies we are supporting by very low, or zero import duties.

In your case, you should be good to go.

Regards, John

 

[jonmanjiro]

AFAIK cameras are not subject to duty, but lenses are. In practice, when sent by Japan Post EMS its very rare for duty to be charged on anything. Of the 50 or so packages containing a camera or lens I've posted to America, I know of only one case where duty was charged, and that was on a lens.

 

[mike kim]

Thanks for the replies everyone. As for countries protecting their industries... I can only speak of my own experience having lived my entire life in Argentina until recently. They have an import duty of 50% (sometimes 100%!) supposedly to protect the local industries, which we don't have nor will have in the near future (in the case of photography, electronics, musical instruments, etc). You have to consider yourself lucky if the item is not mysteriously gone or delayed too. And local markets? They usually don't even sell what you'd be buying online from overseas! But I guess this is the case of most 3rd world countries, and why some people prefer not to deal with them in sites like ebay. 🙄

 

[maddoc]

The most expensive thing I have sold to the US was my Leica MP. I had sent it with EMS, with the full value declared and there were no import duties at all for the buyer.

 

[George S.]

I've had probably a hundred items sent to me here in the USA from overseas in the past 15 or so years, and only received one demand for import fees on a lens that was sent from Europe via FedEx.

 

[Al Kaplan]

I've never had a problem with customs, or been charged for that matter. I did have one package to India "dissapear" but it was of no great value and uninsured. I was told that it's fairly common there.

 

[bmattock]

Items purchased overseas and shipped to the USA are liable for duty. How much the duty is depends upon the item, new or used, and the value, as well as where it comes from - some countries have favorable rates compared to others. Not every item gets 'caught' by Customs and duty levied, which leads some to believe that there is no such thing as import Duties into the USA.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_programs/duty_rates/

There is a limit below which Duty is not charged. I could be wrong, but I recall it being $200 for one item or $100 per item for a maximum of 2 items per day.

There is a table listed in the link above where you can look up the item you are buying and see what the rate is. It is your responsibility to pay for the Duty if it is levied. If the item arrives at your house and is not held up in Customs, then you have no Duty.

This is why some people selling via eBay offer to write 'gift' or otherwise misrepresent the item they are selling when they ship it - they have to fill out the Customs form when they mail it to you. This is illegal, and I would not want to be caught doing it, but people do it.

 

[furcafe]

Another factor that leads many people to think there are no import duties is that the duties (& associated fees for customs broker services) are often included in international shipping.

Items purchased overseas and shipped to the USA are liable for duty. How much the duty is depends upon the item, new or used, and the value, as well as where it comes from - some countries have favorable rates compared to others. Not every item gets 'caught' by Customs and duty levied, which leads some to believe that there is no such thing as import Duties into the USA.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_programs/duty_rates/

There is a limit below which Duty is not charged. I could be wrong, but I recall it being $200 for one item or $100 per item for a maximum of 2 items per day.

There is a table listed in the link above where you can look up the item you are buying and see what the rate is. It is your responsibility to pay for the Duty if it is levied. If the item arrives at your house and is not held up in Customs, then you have no Duty.

This is why some people selling via eBay offer to write 'gift' or otherwise misrepresent the item they are selling when they ship it - they have to fill out the Customs form when they mail it to you. This is illegal, and I would not want to be caught doing it, but people do it.

 

[peter_n]

There is no import duty for still camera equipment to the US. Last year I did a fair amount of research in the US harmonized tariff schedules and posted the relevant pages on the Leica User Forum. There are tariffs on particular movie camera components as I recall; certain kinds of lenses I think. But nothing on still equipment like RF cameras and lenses. The rationale is that there is little or no US-based manufacturing in the still camera category.

If you are buying from overseas, one company to be leery of is UPS. They charge a brokerage fee of 3% of the declared value of the goods for "registering & clearing" the item through customs. A total rip-off.

 

[bmattock]

^ It's only illegal if you get caught. 😛

No, it's illegal whether you get caught or not.