$50,000 Fine For Seller if Caught Lying About CoO

[wilsonharborsales]

I have been speaking with a shipper this morning who had an entire load rejected at the border because a package was opened by a customs official and the item was improperly declared.  If the item is made in China/Hong Kong or 51% or more of the product is made in China/Kong, you are NOT to ship those items with carriers at this time.  I believe that only DHL, FedEx and UPS are currently brokering Made in China items.  In the case of the rejected load, the shipper (the small business who lied on the form) will be fined $50,000 as well as the costs for the load being rejected (hundreds of thousands of dollars).

Please do not try and sneak things through by lowering the value or lying on the CoO form.  The company I spoke with is furious over the rejected load, as they had spent 14 hours trying to clear it at the border and one small time t-shirt seller got the entire thing rejected.  Load rejections will lead to suspensions and below standard metrics for other e-commerce sellers who have packages on that load as the trucks and planes continually get rejected and the packages don't receive their USPS acceptance scans.

[msau4301]

Yikes! Myself I sell mainly vintage Barbies which were made in Japan, Taiwan and Korea so made in China is not the biggest issue. My main concern is how long, how much delay there will be for things passing through.

I use Canada Post and print my labels off eBay but I am holding off until I better understand what is happening. As there has been no formal word from eBay, and we may be waiting a while, I've been turning to you fine people here and your posts. Thanks for helping to keep others informed, as we all sit in waiting!

[motomike_canada]

Lots of fear mongering up in here.

My stuff is getting thru no problem, so far.  UPS, Fedex and canada post.  There's a lot of confusion and a lot of anectdotes, but so far I've seen only a little longer delay at US customs on my tracking before it passes through into the system as usual.  

The fine is 'up to' 50k for misrepresenting CoO or PURPOSELY misclassifying an item.  Must have been a giant order that wasn't even close to being the correct HS code if that's actually true, or this isn't the first time this company tried to push something thru on the wrong code to avoid tariffs. 

[brettjet38]

Yes, this is an old law that was put in place a few years ago, this is the first time I have heard of a "Load" getting fined, yes it's $50,000 usd. 

I remember reading the news release about this...

Delcare your items for what they are, use the correct HS ****.**  code & use Canada Post or do not ship Made in China items to the USA

[wilsonharborsales]

I have 90 packages that were on rejected loads. I am not fear mongering, but deeply involved in this because my livelihood depends on it. I use bulk shipping carriers.

[ricarmic]

Well my situation is different but not unique. As an example, I sell a "worldwide" mixture of stamps. Are there stamps from China it it? There isn't room on the "country of origin" for 100 country names! As well a stamp from Jamaica could well have been printed in Great Britain.

I'm in the unenviable state that half of my 5,000 plus items are listed on .COM so I can't just exclude the US folks.

Store's back closed again for an indeterminate amount of time while I ponder the next steps. I've always had disaster contingency plans, but situation/options have changed in a lot of ways with things I started up during the postal strike, so I'm going to go into ponder mode for a bit to figure out the best way to move forward.

[wilsonharborsales]

The good thing for your situation is that as long as the stamp mix is under 51% Chinese, you do not need to declare China as the Country of origin.

[motomike_canada]

why's your title "$50,000 Fine For Seller if Caught Lying About CoO"

instead of "Use Regular Carriers Insetad Of 3rd Party Importers To Avoid Delays"

one is fearful

one is helpful 

you didn't even mention your 90 parcels until now, or even WHY they've been turned back.  Assuming you don't have customs paperwork properly filled out for them, or the 3rd party (chitchats, stallion etc.) didn't have it manifested with CoO and HS codes. 

With so much confusion about this, you can choose to be helpful or you can choose to make sensational posts. My opinion is you've chose the latter. 

[wilsonharborsales]

Not a problem.  Appreciate you taking the time to point things out.  Cheers.

[ricarmic]

@wilsonharborsales well that is a very good point. I'm still not sure what one has to do about the country of origin for multi country origin stuff like this.

Years ago when there was some furor around embargoed items I spoke with both PAYPAL (that's how long ago it was) and ebay about what I was supposed to do if there were Iran stamps in a "middle east" mixture. The advice I got then was it wouldn't be a problem, this would be to them of course, I didn't ask customs. Things were a lot more "friendly" then than they appear to be now.

Beyond the potential problems from the south for the next 4 or more years, my pondering is also looking at the global situation and the best way to manage my "semi retirement" in a way that works for me, time and stress wise. I am so very very glad that I'm not nearly as dependant on this as my sole source of income as I was for the 15 years before this!

In the brief window I was open from Tuesday to today, I sold a number of trackable items going to the US. All had the 6 digit HS code (which I've always included) but the country was blank (which I've always done because of the points above). I'll watch them as they go through the system and see what happens. None were "China only" lots.

[mrdutch1001]

Both of my USA bound packages(via Canada Post) that were dropped off at postal outlet earlier this week are now in the USA.(I list/sell NOTHING made in China)

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@wilsonharborsales wrote:
I have 90 packages that were on rejected loads. I am not fear mongering, but deeply involved in this because my livelihood depends on it. I use bulk shipping carriers.

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@wilsonharborsales 

@motomike_canada 

This is a situation of everyone (mixed loads) being punished due to either ignorance, laziness, attempting to sneak one by etc. Next to impossible to have any control.

Similar to what happened when companies were trying to bypass/avoid following the new rules being implemented for transport of dangerous goods. 

Why inspections take place in many situations. This learning curve is going to be VERY messy!!!

[msau4301]

Thank you, sounds like it's courier and forwarders that are having the biggest issues. I had very fast shipping to US with Canada Post last week, glad to hear it's still happening this week, at least for now!

[carlmarxx]

Vintage toys  have  never  been   issue  with tarifff's  since it is for  current  production  good's   .   

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@ricarmic wrote:

@wilsonharborsales well that is a very good point. I'm still not sure what one has to do about the country of origin for multi country origin stuff like this.

Years ago when there was some furor around embargoed items I spoke with both PAYPAL (that's how long ago it was) and ebay about what I was supposed to do if there were Iran stamps in a "middle east" mixture. The advice I got then was it wouldn't be a problem, this would be to them of course, I didn't ask customs. Things were a lot more "friendly" then than they appear to be now.

Beyond the potential problems from the south for the next 4 or more years, my pondering is also looking at the global situation and the best way to manage my "semi retirement" in a way that works for me, time and stress wise. I am so very very glad that I'm not nearly as dependant on this as my sole source of income as I was for the 15 years before this!

In the brief window I was open from Tuesday to today, I sold a number of trackable items going to the US. All had the 6 digit HS code (which I've always included) but the country was blank (which I've always done because of the points above). I'll watch them as they go through the system and see what happens. None were "China only" lots.

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@ricarmic 

Due to these new tariffs, inspecting more items will become commonplace. What was once considered acceptable may have, in a blink of eye, become verboten/not acceptable. Discretion could go out the window.

[carlmarxx]

I can't  any item's  made  2 years  to  25+  year's  ago  in China  or  Hong Kong  owned by private  owner's had setting around  in their  house or  storage unit or car garage the Tarriff's effect  those items .   

[flipistics]

Personally, I think the smart thing to do would be to use Canada Post until the cross border shippers get things sorted out.  I'd also suggest using the full 10 digit HS code and making sure that the description of goods includes the kind of keywords customs would need. So, for example, instead of "figurine" you might put " *brand* porcelain figurine 6" Italy " or something like that.

[msau4301]

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@carlmarxx wrote:

Vintage toys  have  never  been   issue  with tarifff's  since it is for  current  production  good's   .   

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I hope you're right! Not sure if things may have changed in this crazy new ever-changing the rules world!

[flipistics]

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@msau4301 wrote:

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@carlmarxx wrote:

Vintage toys  have  never  been   issue  with tarifff's  since it is for  current  production  good's   .   

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I hope you're right! Not sure if things may have changed in this crazy new ever-changing the rules world!

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There's no distinction (that I'm aware of) between new and used goods in Trump's executive orders. If it's made in China (or Hong Kong), the tariff applies.  Other countries may have carveouts for vintage toys, etc in the tariffs that they charge.

[carlmarxx]

There is a distinction  between new and used goods  , Orange Buttballs  executive orders  will be over turned in  court .  over good's already  here  be it 40 years  sitting around .