Country of Origin and Tariffs. Is my understanding correct?

I sell CD's and I would say 45% made in Canada and 45% made inthe US, the other 10% Japan, England and Germany.  I am preparing for the time that de minimis goes away in the US 2027. 

 

I currently am listing CD's made in the US on .com and the rest that were made in Canada, Japan and Europe on .ca.  Now if the de minimis goes away in 2027, I would remove US shipping from .ca and leave it on for .com.  I am assuming that because the CD was made in the US, shipping it to the US there would be no tarriff.   I am starting this now as I have over 2,500 listed and am constantly listing more.  

 

Is my understanding correct, that if a CD was made in the US and I am shipping it to the US there would be no tarriff?

Message 1 of 6
latest reply
5 REPLIES 5

Country of Origin and Tariffs. Is my understanding correct?


@musicyouneed wrote:

I sell CD's and I would say 45% made in Canada and 45% made inthe US, the other 10% Japan, England and Germany.  I am preparing for the time that de minimis goes away in the US 2027. 

 

I currently am listing CD's made in the US on .com and the rest that were made in Canada, Japan and Europe on .ca.  Now if the de minimis goes away in 2027, I would remove US shipping from .ca and leave it on for .com.  I am assuming that because the CD was made in the US, shipping it to the US there would be no tarriff.   I am starting this now as I have over 2,500 listed and am constantly listing more.  

 

Is my understanding correct, that if a CD was made in the US and I am shipping it to the US there would be no tarriff?


That's technically correct, the tariff applies based on where goods are made, so if there's no tariff on US goods being reimported, then your US CDs would have no tariff.

 

However the way things are going, I wouldn't trust them to process your shipments correctly at the border (especially not when this first kicks in). I've told people we're in for a world of hurt with the tariffs/border problems we're facing right now.

 

I had a conversation with someone who advises me on business matters about coins that are made by the Royal Canadian Mint but have a different country name on it. My advisor told me to use the name printed on the coin because that's what customs will look at, and he insinuated customs won't be smart enough to understand that coins made for some countries are made by other countries... Since there's only Tariffs on China made goods, I haven't come face to face with this nightmare just yet, I was just warned to prepare myself.

 

C.

Message 2 of 6
latest reply

Country of Origin and Tariffs. Is my understanding correct?

Looking at your store, and considering the hypothetical situation, in your shoes I might consider keeping it simple and not selling to the USA at all. Maybe with the exception of a few highly collectible expensive items that might benefit from the extra eyeballs.

 

Even if CDs pressed in the US come without tariffs, think about the amount of administrative work that would go into even determining the country of origin for each CD, and handling potential issues that might arise from shipping to the USA once further restrictions are put in place. 

 

In my experience with media, outside of expensive and out-of-print collectible titles, my experience is that it's difficult for a Canadian seller to get a high volume of sales to the USA while also making a reasonable profit for their time. USA sellers have media mail, and there are also large firms like Decluttr that leverage their efficiency to buy and sell pre-owned media for dirt cheap. So for every 10 cheap common titles sold to Canada, I find there might be 1 sold to the USA. 

 

Your experience might be different, but if your volume of sales of cheaper CDs or DVDs to the USA are similar to mine, I think it makes more sense to just close up sales to the USA in a doomsday scenario where they follow through with the removal of the de minimis (as is currently planned).

Message 3 of 6
latest reply

Country of Origin and Tariffs. Is my understanding correct?

Decluttr has actually closed down their operation.

Message 4 of 6
latest reply

Country of Origin and Tariffs. Is my understanding correct?

I would hate to lose the US buyers and I would only do that as a last resort but I am getting prepared.  Last month I sold 60 CDs and 36 were sent to the US.  This month I sold 45 and of those 22 went to the US.  So 50% of my sales go to the US.   I spend a lot of time listing each CD, so determining COO is not a big deal.

Message 5 of 6
latest reply

Country of Origin and Tariffs. Is my understanding correct?

You're right. 

 

You sell a large percentage to the USA, so it would be worth continuing. 

Message 6 of 6
latest reply