I am hoping to buy a used Cosina-Voigtlander M-Mount lens from a friend in Canada. The lens would have fallen under the old "less than $800" exemption, but that was suspended earlier this year. We need to know what the tariff will be. Has anyone done this recently who could tell me what the going rate is, and what the best carrier would be?
I looked on the U.S. HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) site. I believe the code for a photographic lens is 9002.11.0000, and the tariff would be 2.45%. But using online estimators, I've gotten everything from free to 35%. The lens was made in Japan.
Your Canadian friend can find out by running it through the Canada Post mail system for sending a parcel to the US. The seller would estimate (or measure) the parcel size and weight, and declare its value. The Canada Post and other systems require the sender to pay all tariffs, US taxes and fees up front. In order to do so, the user has to identify where it fits in the Canadian version of the types-of-items list. This is why I no longer sell to US customers.
In some cases, the sender may also have to post a bond in case the US Customs disagrees with the duty and tariff rates the seller has already paid up front... definitely not worth shipping anything to the USA any more.