Will there be a tariff owing if I send a $20 item to the US before May 2nd?

[vintagenorth]

Buyer wants to know but am confused now since so many changes made to tariffs recently. I think will be okay since deminimus still on until May 2 but not sure. Have actual tariffs started yet?

[intimewithmusic]

Ask your buyer to contact their Customs office or eBay for clarification. This is not within your scope of advisory.

"Please check with your country's customs office to determine import costs (if any) prior to bidding or buying as payment may be due on delivery."

[recped]

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@vintagenorth wrote:

Buyer wants to know but am confused now since so many changes made to tariffs recently. I think will be okay since deminimus still on until May 2 but not sure. Have actual tariffs started yet?

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It would depend on the country of origin of the goods you are shipping.

[vintagenorth]

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@recped wrote:

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@vintagenorth wrote:

Buyer wants to know but am confused now since so many changes made to tariffs recently. I think will be okay since deminimus still on until May 2 but not sure. Have actual tariffs started yet?

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It would depend on the country of origin of the goods you are shipping.

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Just a paper sewing pattern to the US using tracked Pkt USA. Made in the USA as are most sewing patterns.

[recped]

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@vintagenorth wrote:

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@recped wrote:

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@vintagenorth wrote:

Buyer wants to know but am confused now since so many changes made to tariffs recently. I think will be okay since deminimus still on until May 2 but not sure. Have actual tariffs started yet?

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It would depend on the country of origin of the goods you are shipping.

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Just a paper sewing pattern to the US using tracked Pkt USA. Made in the USA as are most sewing patterns.

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Qualifies for the de minimus exemption (US$800), if you complete the customs declaration correctly there will be no duty

[vintagenorth]

Thank you!

[flipistics]

In theory, there shouldn't be any as long as the item CLEARS customs prior to the 2nd. As far as I know, the 2nd only affects Chinese / Hong Kong items and shouldn't matter for items made in other countries. That may be coming later.

Keep in mind that the customs offices will likely be gunked up on the 2nd and items may take a LONG time to clear no matter where they're from.

[intimewithmusic]

 You have a 100% feedback rating.  I would be very careful about saying there will be no tariff. If you guarantee your buyer in messaging there will be no tariff and something goes wrong IE: delayed shipment or missing in transit = late delivery you may expose your item to a tariff.  This can result in justified bad feedback. Because you offered a guarantee in messaging (things you have no personal control over) you forfeit Seller Protection. 

  Chances are things will go smooth however the advice I see here includes disclaimers like "In theory",  "as long as",  "if you" etc...   Let's say you go ahead a give the buyer a written guarantee. In the event of an issue, if you are lucky,  you may be able to satisfy your customer with a refund. 

It's interesting your buyer asks about tariffs for a $20 item. If there's a dispute based on your guarantee  eBay will give them a full refund and probably tell them to keep the item. Your guarantee will be the basis for  a chargeback. They wouldn't even need eBay to do that. Just their credit card provider.

At this point the buyer may be satisfied. Then again they may still leave you negative feedback that cannot be removed. 

We pay eBay fees to provide us with Seller Protections. eBay explains this. Here is eBay's link. Or ,you can jeopardize your 100% rating and guarantee something to your buyer you have absolutely zero control over. For a profit of about $15.50. 

eBay Customs & Duty Guidance For International Sellers 

Others reading this thread may use  "hypotheticals"  to make their decisions as well.   "In theory",  "as long as",  "if you" etc...   They may be further from the border than yourself.  Some of my items take a week just to get to the customs office in Richmond. ( 5 hour drive))

  I prefer to finish my job at the post office and let eBay protect me after that.

[mrdutch1001 · Accepted solution]

My most recent shipment to the USA(an item sold on another site) shipped via Canada Post Tracket Pkt to Florida, shipment value $40; was sucessfully delivered in 8 days.(and no, there were no issues at the border, beyond the border, nor with delivery)

[reallynicestamps]

Has the USPS postal workers union made any comment on the increase in their workload coming up?

Back when online commerce took off, and our duty/tax free allowance was $20Cdn,  CBSA handled the question by simply ignoring any postal shipment valued under $X (somewhere around $100Cdn) that was not bulky.

Unlike the politicians, the bureaucrats realized that the taxpayer would spend more to assess  any due duty or sales tax than could possibly be collected.

[dinomitesales]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

Has the USPS postal workers union made any comment on the increase in their workload coming up?

Back when online commerce took off, and our duty/tax free allowance was $20Cdn,  CBSA handled the question by simply ignoring any postal shipment valued under $X (somewhere around $100Cdn) that was not bulky.

Unlike the politicians, the bureaucrats realized that the taxpayer would spend more to assess  any due duty or sales tax than could possibly be collected.

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I follow the USPS subreddit pretty closely and there's been basically no discussion of this. I have to assume USPS hasn't communicated anything about it to their employees.

Canada Post has been absolutely silent on the matter as well. Makes me think they know something we don't know. Everyone here is assuming that any "Made in China" goods will be assessed for tariffs/fees once the de minimis is repealed on May 2, but Canada Post hasn't made any announcements regarding the importance of including a country of origin on their customs declarations (and the country of origin and HS code are still completely optional and not required). Either they're not taking this seriously, or they have some kind of agreement with US CBP to not worry about anything coming from Canada?