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US Tariffs on Switzerland

pdxleaf
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sathomasga sathomasga
DHL and FedEx won't deliver until the recipient pays.
Fedex delivered a watch to me from Canada and then billed me for duty.

in this case, the watch was not subject to custom duties because it had been sent and returned for service. But they insisted after a lengthy fight and I eventually paid.
 
sathomasga
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dsio dsio
[W]e would face the 10% tariff based on it being shipped from Australia rather than the Swiss country of origin rate, which isn’t that bad.

[…].

f the tariffs are in an off period and the watch is shipped, then they go on again, does it not get tariffed due to being shipped prior to announcement or does arrival time count more?

Legally the shipping country is irrelevant, only the Swiss origin matters. And tariffs are whatever is in effect when the shipment is presented to US Customs. Whether or not the carrier and customs together correctly handle both issues is anyone’s guess.
 
Matt-998
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Will we see a return of some of these tricks that my Dad told me about - they would sell something for $1 - but gift $1,000 for the box - that kind of thing.

You sell a watch for $1 but will only agree to sell it if you contribute $1,000 to my holiday / buy a new Porsche fund - so long as a buyer is clearly advised beforehand.

There is probably a clause somewhere about that being OK unless it is done to avoid import duties !
 
STANDY
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Australia post is now having to fill out a huge document when anything is sent to the US from Australia. Sent a knife and was at the counter for a bit. Big emphasis on where the item was made and not what it was.

So for me even sending a Swiss watch from Australia would be a mine field that could attract a 39% tariff
Any vintage rules is probably out the window at this point also..

On the upside, buying knife supplies from the USA hasn’t changed a bit 👍🏻 (no 10% gst unless over $1000)
 
Dan S
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TBH, I've never understood why customs duty was applied to collectible items. It doesn't really seem logical. I don't like sales tax either, but I understand it.
 
gatorcpa
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Dan S Dan S
It doesn't really seem logical.
It actually does make sense to me, at least how tariffs are assessed in other countries.

In most of the world, the purpose of tariffs is the equalize the tax paid on international transactions to that paid by domestic consumers. That makes sense.

What the U.S. is doing is totally illogical, especially with respect to similar items produced by different countries. For example, under previous rules, a Glashütte watch made in Germany had the same duty as a Swiss Omega of similar intrinsic content.

Now, the Omega has a 39% tariff and the Glashütte has a 15% tariff (I think). This makes no sense, unless your sole objective is to punish a particular country’s supply chain and its American customers.
gatorcpa
 
mollydooker
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STANDY STANDY
field that could attract a 39% tariff
Any vintage rules is probably out the window at this point also..

On the upside, buying knife supplies from the USA hasn’t changed a bit
STANDY STANDY
Australia post is now having to fill out a huge document when anything is sent to the US from Australia. Sent a knife and was at the counter for a bit. Big emphasis on where the item was made and not what it was.

So for me even sending a Swiss watch from Australia would be a mine field that could attract a 39% tariff
Any vintage rules is probably out the window at this point also..

On the upside, buying knife supplies from the USA hasn’t changed a bit 👍🏻 (no 10% gst unless over $1000)
Sorry Standy GST now applies to all purchases irrespective of $ . its just that most shipping companies are lax in collecting the gst for under $1000. However if you use ebay etc. they add the gst. after adding the postage cost. Technically you could still receive an invoice for the GST from customs
 
V
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gatorcpa gatorcpa
Now, the Omega has a 39% tariff and the Glashütte has a 15% tariff (I think). This makes no sense, unless your sole objective is to punish a particular country’s supply chain and its American customers.
gatorcpa
I think the goal is not to punish the American customers but to make purchasing of Swiss goods less attractive so that certain (whatever they are) concessions can be extracted from Switzerland. Whether this strategy works or not is an entirely different story.
 
Dan S
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gatorcpa gatorcpa
In most of the world, the purpose of tariffs is the equalize the tax paid on international transactions to that paid by domestic consumers. That makes sense.
I have not heard this as the rationale for tariffs. The motivation you provide can be accomplished by VAT.

In Economics class, I learned that tariffs were mainly a device to protect domestic industries that a given country wants to support. These might be critical industries for national defense, a key industry that a country chooses to develop, etc.
 
gatorcpa
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Dan S Dan S
I have not heard this as the rationale for tariffs. The motivation you provide can be accomplished by VAT.
In Economics class, I learned that tariffs were mainly a device to protect domestic industries that a given country wants to support.
And in a lot of countries it was, especially in the days before VAT, GST and sales taxes.

Today, VAT isn’t paid on imported raw materials, only on the value added to them in the manufacturing process. The tariff is applied to the imported items instead of VAT.

When the wholesaler purchases the finished product, they get a credit for the VAT paid to the manufacturer against the VAT collected from their customers, but they do not get a credit for the tariffs paid.

For collectors importing watches into the EU (for example), the import duty is generally equivalent to the VAT that would have been paid if the watch was purchased locally.

gatorcpa
 
YY77
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gatorcpa gatorcpa
For collectors importing watches into the EU (for example), the import duty is generally equivalent to the VAT that would have been paid if the watch was purchased locally.
Yes, I purchased a watch in Japan, had to pay 0,80 euro import duty plus VAT of 21% (Netherlands) over the purchase price and a courierfee of 2,5% of the VAT+0,80 euro, so in total it was purchase price x 1,216
Edited:
 
STANDY
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mollydooker mollydooker
Sorry Standy GST now applies to all purchases irrespective of $ . its just that most shipping companies are lax in collecting the gst for under $1000. However if you use ebay etc. they add the gst. after adding the postage cost. Technically you could still receive an invoice for the GST from customs
When the government was doing the big business paying tax a few years ago. The government got big places like eBay, Amazon etc and several platform sellers to collect the 10% gst on behalf of the government. Only these people collect the GST.
GST for items bought overseas that are not signed on to this will not have GST collected at the border by anyone. FedEx DHL etc (it would clog the logistics and cost billions in Customs officers and depots staff.)

Yes I have had some small places that are out of the blue signed up to the governments GST collection scheme. But 90% of places I buy stuff for knife making comes GST free.
 
STANDY
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NEWS TODAY

Australis Post and several countries have all stopped posting to the US 🇺🇸
 
Dan S
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I expect that the US will threaten larger tariffs on foreign countries if they don't resume mailing parcels to the US. ::facepalm1::
 
Fallout Boy
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I think, the problems are unclear custom regulations. For the "Post " and their clients.
 
Archer
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Porteroso Porteroso
They cannot deny a citizen entry, whether you hand over the password to your phone or not. It is possible that they could ask, but rare, for citizens. They asked .01% of travelers in 2024, and the majority of those were non citizens.
Becoming less rare...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/us-canada-device-searches-1.7619944

"U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has released new data showing a sharp rise in electronic device searches at border crossings.

From April to June alone, CBP conducted 14,899 electronic device searches, up more than 21 per cent from the previous quarter (23 per cent over the same period last year). Most of those were basic searches, but 1,075 were "advanced," allowing officers to copy and analyze device contents.

While electronic device searches jumped by 12.6 per cent over the past year, the total number of travellers entering the United States rose by 6.6 per cent. Among the most notable increases are searches of U.S. citizens' devices, which rose nearly 22 per cent."
 
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