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Playing Customs Games with Our Northern Neighbors

Lately, i have been confronted with buyers from Canada who have insisted that i declare an artificially low value for an item that i am selling so that they can avoid the heft customs duties in Canada. In one case, this request was made AFTER the buyer had already paid me. In a subsequent case, i told the prospective buyer up front that i would not mis-state/under-insure the the item and this put an end to our discussions (presumably, the customs fees would have been so significant that we couldn't resolve this by simply "pricing it into the deal.")

I have no problem selling to buyers from Canada, but i do have a problem providing false statements on a Customs Declaration. Am I over-reacting?
jeffreybowman2k

Showing 1 response by shadorne

shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
It is the law and laws must be obeyed irrespective of whether they make any sense. Are many of these taxes reasonable or fair?...no they most certainly are not! For example, an item originating from the UK and sold in the US will have US import taxes and sales taxes applied to it. This same item if sold used to a Canadian will have import duties and all sales taxes applied all over again....double taxation!!!

Oh and NAFTA....it is a complete farce. Americans apply protectionist taxes against many Canadian products (such as softwood lumber) and Canadians apply protectionist taxes against many American products (telecomms, banking, financial services, cars etc.)

The only things certain in life are death and taxes!

BTW....this will only get worse. The US has $1 trillion in debt...China has a seriously undervalued currency (Yuan) => more protectionism looks heavily on the cards!
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