Fedex uses their own brokers so yes you will see some import duties and "other" fees. If you use USPS fees will be less but it will take longer to arrive. Make sure whoever ships uses the correct HS codes so it clears Customs quicker. You can always ask seller to provide a reduced invoice so fees are also reduced.
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It was kinda of a PITA. Customs called me when the package crossed the border and they emailed me some custom forms to fill out. In the end it was only about 100 bucks for a $3,000 purchase but that was before the tarrifs. Since then I have been more conscious of trying to buy mainly from the USA. I think it's the administration's goal and it's working lol.
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Hard to answer what the fees could be. It appears everyone has different experiences. As of today, it could be one number in the morning and flips to another number by the afternoon. These are very difficult times for businesses of any sort. Economies and businesses thrives with predictability. In times of in unpredictability things do not go well. Common business sense. It’s how the economy has worked for hundreds of years. Maybe more. As for the question of fees of buying from Canada, I would not worry for i would go for it. Life is too short to worry about it. This is a one off transaction. Go with the flow. Odds are you may get a free pass. If you had folks on your payroll, then I would worry. And for those that are not happy with my comments, my question to you is. How many people do you have on your payroll? And if you do have people on the payroll, are you tied to the global economy? I live in this environment everyday. @jasonbourne71 While I think your off the mark many times, you got this one dead on.
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Folks, it’s a mess. The tariff situation changes from week to week, and CBP and carriers really don’t know what to do about it. Stuff from China, Canada, Korea, who knows? Mouser Electronics posts tariff fees on some items, your choice to pay them or order something else. I know a boutique amp builder who was hit with thousands in tariffs on an order of components from China. I’ve ordered some components from China, things that no one in the US makes, only to be charged more than the items were worth to me or to simply cancel the order. Tube sockets made in the US? Forget it. All I can say is that a reputable out-of-country dealer will be honest about what to expect. |
I am very lucky (or smart, it was my choice) to live in Australia. Just picked up flat packs from the Swedish company IKEA to fit out a laundry. The cupboard carcasses are made in China, the doors come from Italy, the wood bench top was manufactured in Romania, the hinges come from Poland, the catches from Slovenia and the rails come from Taiwan. Ordered from the local IKEA showroom and the whole lot was ready to be picked up from the warehouse just down the road minutes later. That's free trade in action. |
@jasonbourne71 + 1 |
@jasonbourne71 +++++++++++++++1 |
It's completely unpredictable. I lived in Washington State and bought a pair of ProAc speakers, made in England, from an individual in British Columbia, Canada. Drove up to fetch them and spent close to an hour at the border with a pair of confused customs agents. They finally arrived at what seemed like a completely arbitrary tariff fee of about $200 based on the fact that they were manufactured in England. I paid it and fled south.
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I received a parts order several days ago from Hifi Collective in England, and there were no tariff or customs charges, just the FedEx shipping charge. That was the third order from Hifi Collective in the last two months and there were no tariff or customs charges on any of them. I have no idea why. |
Canada has had sky high tariffs on American goods for decades, some as high as 250%. Trump is trying to level the playing field. Canada currently has an imbalance of trade with us of about $50 billion. Trump would like them to get that down to around $30 billion. |
It’s an extreme claim. It’s false.
Here is a complete list of the tariffs Canada collects on US goods. |
Spin the wheel and see what number pops up. I ordered pair of Psvane WE101D tubes directly from Psvane just the other day, they state on website any tariff included in price, and the price was nice! Now I may get a big surprise when it reaches US.
Complete nonsense per Canadian tariffs in general, yes, they do protect some of their agricultural products, but then so does US. One of the big factors in the auto industry moving to Canada was lower labor costs, this sort of thing leads to trade deficits. Labor costs in general are the main driver of offshoring, pretending its unfair tariffs is disingenuous at best. Citing a few outliers as to high tariffs doesn't make it universally true. So much inductive reasoning these day vs deductive, get yourself inside the bell curve people. |
I live in Canada and buy stuff from the US all the time and have so for decades. According to the last Free trade agreement, that the current US admin is no longer honouring, there was no duty to personally import any US made good into Canada , only sales tax, and the reverse was true as well. The only exception was alcohol, and the high levies for that are provincial , with each province doing it’s own thing. I bought lots of audio gear from the US, never any duty, only sales tax. Trump may have a point in that on an industrial scale we may have duties for US dairy products. The reason for that is because dairy is about 30% cheeper in the US because the US government heavily subsidizes that industry. and the Canadian government much less so these help duties keep our dairy farms in business. US dairy is cheaper than the UK, Australia, and much of the EU as well . Looking at trade deficits when only accounting for goods no longer makes sense. One needs to look at services as well like Netflix or hydroelectric power which gives a bigger picture of what the economic scene is. |
Not audio equipment and not Canada (Malaysia) and not $2000 ($500) but I recently made a purchase that was shipped by UPS. Seller made clear any tariffs were my responsibility; however, I was never charged any additional fees and the package was delivered in just 4 days to my TN USA address. Honestly I half expected receive a bill that requires me to make a direct deposit to the Don’s bank account @moonwatcher - totally false. I found the Canadian government website that lists all tariffs on US goods and sorted both ways on tariff rate. All tariffs are 25%. I also sorted both ways on effective date and all of these tariffs were enacted since March 3rd 2025 which means they are all in responses to little Donny’s trade war. It’s sad that we can’t even have a conversation anymore in which facts are consistently utilized but that’s what happens when an education system is intentionally neglected by one side of the aisle for 30 years. @jasonbourne71 +as many as I can give without being tariffed - though it appears your comment has now been removed. |
While I’m not happy that @jasonbourne71 comment was removed, I can see the moderator taming this conversation. Things could go south really fast. Best to tap the brakes early. |
@cleeds + 1 |
No idea when we started to collect sales tax on used good, but we are now doing it. Things are changing all the time, no one really knows what's going on it's chaos. Ordered some record sleeves from Canada early in the year, it was a $60 order, got $50 in "fees" for that order. Took me 3 months with about 10 calls to Fed-Ex to get it sorted out, as they had no idea where their fees came from. Also drove up to Vancouver last month to pick up some vintage components. $700 in stuff, paid $100 "tax" at the border for stuff that is almost 50 years old. Again, border agents have no clue what they are doing. Feel like they are making it up on the fly. No matter you are in the political spectrum, nothing kills business more then uncertainty, and constant changes, never knowing what anything is truly going to cost. It sucks to not know what anything cost to purchase until way after you can do anything about it. Getting a 75-150% of the total bill months after receiving a product is just bad for everyone. |
That tariff Canada applies on US dairy is designed to only kick in at an annual amount that has rarely been reached. It’s designed to prevent subsidized American dairy from flooding the Canadian market thus killing the Canadian dairy industry. No different than any other nation would do to protect it’s national interest. One point many/all miss is the big picture. America wants safe, stable neighbors whom they can rely on an trust. Since the 1930’s America has recognized this and worked with Canada. We have both benefited. What’s happening now is Canada is being pushed into other market’s, which opens the door for other Countries influence and ideologies. That’s NOT good for America. There seems to be no "big picture" thinking in the current administration. |
It’s a surprise how much imported stuff will cost. Try it and you will know for sure and can let us all know. Willing to bet the price has not gone down as was promised. My daughter got a small very light package from China recently after paying $50+ for delivery. Never saw anything like that before.
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There is no national sales tax. Any sales tax would be at the state level. Each state has or does not have its own sales tax. Each state will have various methods to capture their sales tax from any consumer transaction. It’s the sellers responsibility to collect the tax. There are no sales tax paid at customs. Forgetting the current chaotic business environment, Customs employees have a tuff job figuring out what the tariff fee will be or not be on small transactions. Because of the volumes of incoming product and type, especially small packages coming in every day and every hour, they need to make quick decisions on the spot looking at docs while at the same time look out for illegal stuff. It’s unreasonable to expect some human to know all the tariff codes and its derivatives to make the correct call each time. You can only ask so much from a person. |
Canadian tariffs. l think you put an extra 0 on the 25% import tax on some American goods. In England we often chuckle at the misinformation coming out. Mention it often enough and gullible people believe it. A bit like the old adage, if the legend sounds better than the reality, print the legend. l have never bought gear from the States but l regularly imported vinyl and CDs into the UK. I have made a conscious decision to stop and spend with friendlier countries. Sorry to label everything American and put in the same “basket” but that is now the nature of the beast. With so much confusion this breeds revolution. I do not sell as an option now anything into the US. Myself and my immediate family have all decided to put to bed planned holidays, and even cruises that arrive down the east coast behind us. The US is now off the table for many of my Canadian extended family and Canadian friends too. It is a mathematical probability that this self imposed quarantine will remain in force until the US self imposed nightmares stop. |
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@mapman ”Where is Superman when you need him?” (Post above removed) He thinks he’s already here “doing a great jab” |
@mylogic great decisions for yourself and family, wish I could move to outside the USA but young family (grandkids) prevents the move. I try not viewing the news anymore and just go about my own business but easier said then done. |
