So I live in the USA, and I’ve been ordering some clothing from China of late, on Amazon - over $80’ worth (and I might end up doubling it to $160+.)
When stuff like this arrives in the USA, is the seller (in China) the one who’s paying customs/duty fees? The last time I ordered clothing from China, I don’t recall ever being made to pay anything by U.S. customs, nor even being contacted by Customs at all.
At what threshold would something kick in? $1,000?
Legally, the liability to pay customs duties, etc, rests with the importer — that’s you.
In general, if the declared value of the goods is under $800 and everything else is in order, the goods will be cleared for entry with no duty being charged. But SFAIK this is a practice, not a rule of law. If the value is between $800 and $2000 the goods will be cleared for entry but you’ll have to pony up any applicable duty before the post office or courier will deliver them to you. If the value is more than $2000 the goods will be held at a customs facility until you pay any applicable duty, and then released to the post office/courier for delivery.
Thanks. Is this cumulative, or per-order?
Suppose I ordered fifty pairs of pants (but all in separate orders, one week at a time), each worth a hundred dollars. Would Customs generally treat that as “many orders all under the threshold,” or treat it as one big importation that reaches $5,000?
It is per order. Although if tracked, I believe US customs could hit you with the cumulative value.
As UD$1 wrote, you’re the importer and would pay the customs duty. I’m shocked, shocked to tell you, Trump lied when he said the Chinese would pay. In fact, it’s Joe Sixpack paying for these stupid ass tariffs.
Speaking from an export-oriented country (Australia), where the economy depends on exports (Australia), believe me when I say that when tariffs are applied to Australian goods, the exporter charges less so that the importer doesn’t have to pay may more.
And that’s not all: when the imported goods are held for customs clearance, that’s one big irritation that cuts into sales/purchasing. And when big imports are held for customs clearance, the export price has to allow for any storage costs the import will incur.
All very true. But for consumer purchases of the type that the OP is talking about, the burden of cost and delay associated with customs duties, etc, is very much on the importing consumer, not the exporting merchant.
Moderator Note
This is getting into politics of tariffs, which is a bit beyond the scope of GQ. Feel free to discuss it in a more appropriate forum if you’d like.
Since the answer has been covered already I can add my two cents in.
I imported about $10mm in ethanol during the early stages of the pandemic for hand sanitizer. When we negotiated our pricing without seller it was inclusive of all taxes and tarrifs. So when one of our containers was hit with an inspection and stayed an extra week in customs we weren’t the one who paid for it.
We had to fill out all of the paperwork as the importer of record and were liable for all taxes but we had nothing to do with paying them. Once CBP decided we owed extra taxes on a container and the bill came to our office. After several hours on the phone we figured out what had happened and had to enter the dispute resolution process with CBP so even if we weren’t the ones writing the check our names were on everything.
I’ve ordered stuff from Amazon that came from China, but often it’s not clear that’s where it’s coming from. I’m assuming any customs or duties are included in the shipping cost.
And actually, I ordered a music CD recently and the best price turned out to be from a seller in Australia. I didn’t know that until I received the package and looked at the envelope.