Good morning, youchoose!
My experience with paying duty on items is this: What you've bought
seems to be of less importance than where it was made, where it was
purchased, and from what materials it's made. For example, a cotton
blouse is taxed higher than one made of man-made fiber. I've stood at
the counter watching a customs officer pore over a guidelines manual
to narrow down the exact duty and/or applicable taxes. All one can do
is hope that the item falls in the no-to-low column.
I've never imported furniture or antiques, or anything else for
resale, so I've no personal experience with that.
However, I did find this chart which lists goods being imported into
the U.S. and what determines if an item is duty free or liable to
assessment of duties. As well, it provides information about what
documentation might be required for the import of these goods. Nowhere
does it provide actual figures.
Customs USA Information
http://www.excess-baggage.com/customs/usa.asp
Further investigation took me to a site about the Harmonized Tariff
System (HTS).
Importing a Car (that's the site title, but cars aren't the topic)
http://www.customs.ustreas.gov/imp-exp2/informal/duty.htm
"The Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) provides duty rates for virtually
every item that exists. The HTS is a reference manual that is the size
of an unabridged dictionary."
From this page you can link to:
USITC: Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
http://dataweb.usitc.gov/SCRIPTS/tariff/toc.html
This will provide you with access links to more in depth information.
When you've scrolled to the section which applies to your question,
simply click on the blue item number. This will take you to a PDF
document. (You require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these
types of files.)
At this next website, you can read a government pamphlet which
provides good information about all aspects of commercial importing
and several links to other relevant sites and pages.
U.S. Import Requirements
http://www.customs.gov/impoexpo/import.htm
So, it would appear that the ultimate answer to your question will be
given by the customs offer at the time of import, depending on what
the items are, where you got them, from what materials they're made,
and whether or not the officer got up on the wrong side of the bed.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
revbrenda1st |
