So, I live in the U.S. and want to purchase a $3200 camera from Japan.
Under $800 is Tariff free
$800 to $2499.99 You pay 15% tariff, but that is it.. no paperwork..etc
$2500 and above it is considered a commercial importation and extra fees are added to the 15% tariff and you are required to post a bond to insure that the tariff and fees are paid. They call this Formal Entry.
Does anyone know how Formal Entry works? What paperwork is need and how/when is it filed. How do you post the bond? This seems to be an informational black hole… or maybe a very complicated black hole.. ie.. what is the code for a medium format film camera.. yup different than digital.
As of August 1, 2025 the tariff on Japanese products is 15%. Does anyone know what the tariff is before August 1st.
I believe the tariff will be charged at time of entry to the US not the sent date... Probably no way to get the before rate at this point anyway. You're also going to be at the winds of some clerk trying or not to understand the rules of the day. Sorry to be no help to the actual question; Good luck...
Yes, time of entry. Unfortunately, the whole process of Formal Entry is opaque, so I was hoping that someone on this forum would have purchased and gone through formal entry. I believe that for some time formal entry for single items was waved and treated like items under $2500.
It's been a while since I've done a 'high value' shipment (as it's called here in Canada) but from what I recall of the process, if you use a courier such as UPS, FedEx, etc., they are supposed to contact you when the package is in transit to ask how you wish to have it processed through customs. I.e. do you want to use your own broker, do it yourself, or use their services. The latter is clearly the easiest option because you just pay them. By paying them you're effectively providing the funds necessary for whatever bond they might have to post. If in doubt, call the courier company to ask how the clearance process works and how long it should take.
If it's being sent by mail, then I'm not sure. Maybe call USPS and hope you can connect with someone knowledgeable?
rscheffler wrote:
It's been a while since I've done a 'high value' shipment (as it's called here in Canada) but from what I recall of the process, if you use a courier such as UPS, FedEx, etc., they are supposed to contact you when the package is in transit to ask how you wish to have it processed through customs. I.e. do you want to use your own broker, do it yourself, or use their services. The latter is clearly the easiest option because you just pay them. By paying them you're effectively providing the funds necessary for whatever bond they might have to post. If in doubt, call the courier company to ask how the clearance process works and how long it should take.
If it's being sent by mail, then I'm not sure. Maybe call USPS and hope you can connect with someone knowledgeable?...Show more →
I don't think we're able to self declare in the US, so we'd probably just get the bill + courier fees.
