Better Value in Dollar

Designer cloth and apparels are most common among what we Canadian bring back home from abroad. Duty for clothing, apparels and accessories are most complex depending on materials, country of origin and type and style. Hopefully, the following cover some most common items.

• Leather or composition leather cloth made in MFN countries have a duty rate of 13%.  If they are made in Australia or New Zealand, the duty rate is half of theTariff. http://betterdollar.com/duty-rate-for-articles-of-apparel-and-clothing-accessories-of-leather-or-of-composition-leather/
• Sports leather gloves: 15.5%
• Belts: 9.5%
• Other leather accessories: 8%
• Children’s garments and clothing accessories: 17 ~18%
• Women’s and men’s clothing in general: 17 ~18%
• Jerseys, pullovers, cardigans, waistcoats and similar, knitted or crocheted: 18%

• Duty rate for Other made up clothing accessories, knitted or crocheted; knitted or crocheted parts of garments or of clothing accessories.
• Duty rate for Other articles of plastics and articles of other materials of headings 39.01 to 39.14.
• Preferential Tariffs
• Duty rate for Woven fabrics of artificial filament yarn, including woven fabrics obtained from materials of heading 54.05.
• Duty rate for Weighing not more than 25 g/m^2

The most popular goods often invoke the most questions.

What’s the duty rate for computers, laptops, netbooks, printers (ink-jet printers), printer parts, scanners, photocopiers, hard-disks, monitors, modems, routers, switches?  And what about other gadgets such as cell phones, battery chargers, power supplies and controllers, video games, Digital cameras, TV cameras and video recorders?

The good news is that they are all free from duty.

What about the multi-functional units, such as a HP printer/scanner/copier?

This is covered in category: 8443.31.00 00 – -Machines which perform two or more of the functions of printing, copying or facsimile transmission, capable of connecting to an automatic data processing machine or to a network.

Printer, scanner and copier are all free of duty individually. And there’s no duty when they are combined.

• Duty rate for Wigs, false beards, eyebrows and eyelashes, switches and the like, of human or animal hair or of textile materials; articles of human hair not elsewhere specified or included.
• Duty rate for Transmission apparatus for radio-broadcasting or television, whether or not incorporating reception apparatus or sound recording or reproducing apparatus; television cameras, digital cameras and video camera recorders.
• Duty rate for Static converters
• Duty rate for Aluminum electrolytic

Lately I was asked a lot of questions regarding importing large screen Plasma/LCD TVs from the US.

After a brief survey, I wasn’t surprised that there’s a sharp price disparity between the US and Canadian prices. Take the popular Sharp – AQUOS 52″ 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV for example, both BestBuy.com and BestBuy.ca have a special offer, one at US$1299, the other at CA$1,899. 46% price difference.

So it makes all the sense to shop in the US. Or is it?

Now how much duty or tax will you be charged? This may change the equation significantly. Here’s the list of taxes that you’ll have to pay when importing that big screen TV.

• US state tax, depending on which state you purchase the TV. New Hampshire has 0% state tax, whereas Washington taxes 6.5%.
• Duty of 5% (8528.72, covering high-definition, flat-screen, projection, CRT ), if the TV is not made in Mexico or US. One reader reported 7% being labeled as “luxury tax”. I cannot find reference on excise tax.
• GST/PST on top of all above.

If you have stayed outside Canada over 48 hours, you can claim your personal exemption of $400 or $750.

One tip, many good brand TV, e.g. Panasonic 50″ Plasma T.V, are  made in Mexico. You can get away without paying the duty by choose those brands. When you cross the border, choose a senior-looking officers who would be more experienced in dealing with NAFTA and duty issues, and make less mistake in calculating the duty/tax.

Do your math, then you know whether it’s worthwhile.

Update Jan. 6 2010: A reader reported that the duty of an HD display TV is 3.5%,  assuming it’s made outside North America.

Another Update: If you live close to the border, try get free shipping to a UPS store near the border and you can go pick up. Amazom.com has the best deals on HDTV, Cameras, and Computers. I saved myself 25%, doing this, see blog here.

• Excise Tax or Duty on Wine, Beer, Spirit, Cigar or Tobacco
• FAQ
• Shopping US Online, Picking up at the Border
• Pick up at US border
• Excise Tax, Sin Taxes or Luxury Taxes