Duty

[Stuart and Thea 95]

I'm busy doing as much research as I can into EVERYTHING I'm gonna need to do/know to move to the US. (what else does one do during the waiting stage??) Currently looking at shipping companies vs renting a U-Haul is on the list. Explaining to my mother that my stuff can't go to the states before I do unless I want to pay duty brought up an interesting question that I'm hoping someone knows the answer to.

She said that because of the Free Trade Act, a person doesn't have to pay duty (or charge it because her company ships to and buys from the states all the time) if the items in question were made in either country. Does that mean that we CAN send our things that are from either Canada or the USA without paying any duty on them? Is duty charges the only thing keeping us from shipping our belongings to our fiances/spouses ahead of time or is there some other government law that I'm unaware of yet as well? Ideally, I could start sending my most favourite things in small batches!

Also, so far, it seems like it's gonna be U-Haul, or U-pack for me, as I've gotten several quotes and not liking any of them. I also need to bring pets, so to send my belongings AND take flight with a dog, two cats and a son seems a little too expensive for me, so it's a long drive instead. Though I do know a guy with a plane... I wonder how big it is, and how much gas would cost????

[Inky 1,110]

K-1 entrants do not pay duty on personal belongings. You can also import your car duty free.

We used Uhaul and drove with my dog and my car on a hitch behind the truck. It was a long trip but it was a fun experience.

[Stuart and Thea 95]

K-1 entrants do not pay duty on personal belongings. You can also import your car duty free.

We used Uhaul and drove with my dog and my car on a hitch behind the truck. It was a long trip but it was a fun experience.

Yes, but this is only on belongings you bring with you after you enter on a visa, I'm asking about sending belongings ahead of time, I thought they made you pay duty on them.

I'd rather put my son on the hitch behind the truck and have my dog ride with me!!! Just kidding. As to my car, lol, I need to import my scooter... that's another thing I'm having trouble finding links for, as to the import fees for an Italian made bike! I've already paid to import it here, lol, now I have to pay again to import it to the States! Aw well, we will likely get a big U-haul and pack everything on it, or else I'll just get rid of everything and start fresh! Let's see, for 2000$ I can get some pretty nice furniture, no? Maybe I should start a thread and post pics of my stuff and everyone can tell me if it's worth bringing or just to toss it??

[neiks 19]

NAFTA has been in effect since 1994. DUTY is not the same as federal, state, or provincial taxes.

[Stuart and Thea 95]

Okay, I can find a link for shipping to Canada, and it says many items for personal use would be considered duty free to ship, here's the link: clicky Just need to find one for shipping things to the US, and then I can decide on sending some things ahead of time. I'd feel better knowing that my most beloved items were where they belong, and not waiting here for me to get a visa first. If anyone can access a similar link on the US side to share with me, (my google defaults to Canadian pages, and I don't feel like clicking through 30 or more pages, lol, any Americans reading the Canada forum??

[brooksie 3]

CBP Moving to the U.S. - Duty-free entry of unaccompanied goods, firearms, gift exemption, tools for new residents

Personal and household effects entitled to duty-free entry need not accompany you to the United States; you may have them shipped to your U.S. address at a later time if you choose

Your shipment of personal and/or household goods must be cleared through Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at its first port of arrival, unless you have made arrangements with a foreign freight forwarder to have your effects sent in CBP custody in-bond from the port of arrival to a more convenient port of entry for clearance. (Ask your moving company if they offer this service.)

and so on you will want to read the whole thing twice lol

hope this helps

Edited June 25, 2011 by brooksie

[Stuart and Thea 95]

Thanks Brooksie, that's a great link, but it only talks about shipping your goods when you're moving to the US, so AFTER you have your POE. I'm looking for info on NAFTA links saying you can ship items across the border with no duty if they are made in a NAFTA country. I know that I can import almost anything I like now from the US and not pay duty on it when having it come here, and the law goes both ways, I'm just looking for info on what things exactly qualify. I'm sure liquor and tobacco do not, for example, but what about furniture and clothing? I have several items that I would feel better sending along ahead of time, including my vintage collection of pyrex dishes, most of them are made in the USA, some in Canada, so I would not pay duty to send them now. If I'm reading correctly so far..

UPS has info on their site about limits per shipment for goods with a NAFTA certificate of origin to accompany them for tarrif/duty free shipping, and to ship to the US, the limit is 2500, if your goods are less than that, you are to put in legible writing : "I hereby certify that the good covered by this shipment qualifies as an originating good for purposes of preferential tariff treatment under the NAFTA." The goods must meet the rules of origin for NAFTA though.

NAFTA Rules of Origin

"The NAFTA eliminates tariffs on most goods originating in Canada,

Mexico and the United States ...so that all Canada-United States trade

is duty-free in 1998."

"The NAFTA grants benefits to a variety of goods from the region.

Maximum benefits are reserved for those goods that "originate" in the

region. "Originating" is a term of art used to describe those goods

that meet the requirements of Article 401 of the Agreement. Article

401 of the Agreement establishes which goods originate and precludes

goods from other countries from obtaining those benefits by merely

passing through Canada, Mexico or the United States. Thus, not all

goods made in Canada, Mexico and the United States qualify for NAFTA

benefits. Traders must carefully research the terms of the Agreement

to determine whether their goods are entitled to NAFTA benefits--they

should not assume that they are entitled to NAFTA benefits merely

because they were made in a NAFTA country. It is possible, for

instance, for goods not to originate in Canada, Mexico or the United

States as that term is defined in the NAFTA, but still be an article

of Canada, Mexico or the United States for country of origin marking,

statistical or other purposes.

Article 401 of the Agreement defines "originating" in four ways: goods

wholly obtained or produced in the NAFTA region; goods meeting the

Annex 401 origin rule; goods produced in the NAFTA region wholly from

originating materials; and unassembled goods and goods classified with

their parts which do not met the Annex 401 rule of origin but contain

60 percent regional value content using the transaction method (50

percent using the net cost method)."

http://www.cbp.gov/nafta/docs/us/guidproc.html#2%20RULES%20OF

I'm not yet sure that the items I want to ship will meet these rules, even though they are made in North America, so I'm still doing some reading. I may just have to pack them carefully and load them on the truck and just hope that they all arrive intact.

Edited June 25, 2011 by Stuart and Thea

[Andy and Kayla 45]

I'm trying to figure all of this out, too. Currently, our plan is to have my fiance drive up for the interview, stay about a week or so and if I don't have visa in hand by the time he has to go back, he would drive back without me but take some of my things and I would fly down with my last suitcase on my own.

We had planned on making him copies of all of our information to show that they're our belongings, but that I'm not there yet because my visa isn't in hand. Now I'm concerned they won't not tax him on it. It isn't a HUGE amount of stuff and it would most certainly be cheaper than the $2000 it would take to ship all of it at a later date, and if I'm lucky enough to have my visa in hand it won't be an issue at all, but we'd like to be prepared either way.

Would this that link (https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/354/kw/tax%20exemption/session/L3NpZC9uYVRnVm54aw%3D%3D) and this form (http://forms.cbp.gov/pdf/CBP_Form_3299.pdf) allow him to take the items over as they're technically both of ours? :\

As if any of us needed this to be MORE costly and complicated.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Technically, you are not allowed to ship your goods and belongings duty free before you are legally in the US yourself because they have no grounds on which to admit them as your belongings. If you wished, you could agree to pay the duty and excise taxes instead - but you might want to check that out with a brokerage firm before hand. All duty rates are incredibly involved and in some cases, the charges quite hefty. There is no clear cut way to say that something will be allowed entry under NAFTA especially with our modern consumer environment where items are made of components from many different countries using natural resources from even more countries. There are really complicated formulas they use to decide if or how much of an item is dutiable. In some cases, it would definitely be cheaper to pay the shipping fees after arrival than the duty or brokerage fees before arrival.

We rented a van and drove with 6 cats, the houseplants I was bringing (with their phytosanitary certificates), and items too valuable to leave with a mover. We had made arrangements for a professional mover to bring down the rest of my belongings after I had entered the US. I had to fax them a copy of my I-94 and entry stamp on my passport after I had entered the US (they already had the rest of my paperwork) and they were required to show them before they were allowed to cross the border.

Some people have brought in personal belongings before hand and been allowed through - and some have been turned back and told to leave the belongings in Canada before being allowed through the border. The only sure way you are going to get your personal items in duty free is for them either to accompany you or arrive after you have legally entered the US.

Kayla - goods that are less than one year in your possession are considered dutiable, although we weren't required to pay duty on anything I had that was less than 1 year old. You may find if Andy has to leave before you get your visa that he will find a sympathetic border guard once he explains that these are wedding gifts to the 2 of you and so also belong to him, especially if he brings evidence to show you are just waiting for your actual visa in order to enter. Legally, he is required to pay duty on them but the border authorities seem more concerned about large number of items for potential resale or expensive electronics or illegal copies of brand name items, etc. rather than legitimate personal belongings. Under your circumstances I suspect he wouldn't be turned back at the border since he does own the items and they would probably not require him to pay duty unless there was something really expensive - like a brand new big screen HD TV . It will depend on how much of a stickler for details the border guard is who he encounters and how honest he is. He should declare - if asked - that is he bringing in some wedding presents for his upcoming wedding in the US. Good luck.

Edited June 25, 2011 by Kathryn41

[Stuart and Thea 95]

We rented a van and drove with 6 cats, the houseplants I was bringing (with their phytosanitary certificates)

Oohh, I didn't know we were allowed to bring plants with us?? I have a hibiscus tree that is as old as I am, it's 6 feet tall, and I hate to part with it, as my grandmother grafted it for me with some of the hibiscus she had when I was born. I also have a number of tropicals, I had planned on finding a new owner for all these, but if you can point me in the right direction for a phytosanitary certificate?? I've never heard of it before, so double thanks!!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Sure! I had something similar with a plant that my grandmother had originally started and passed on to my mother who had passed it on to me. I figured if I was bringing that plant I would bring some of my other favourites as well. I actually drove to the nearest border crossing and asked the US border guard what I needed to import houseplants. He was the one who told me about phytosanitary certificates and who issued them.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/protect/dir/d-99-06e.shtml

Phytosanitary certificates are issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. An inspector who is responsible for your area needs to see the plants in question, examine them to make sure they have no obvious pests or disease, and then will issue a certificate listing the approved plants that will then allow you to import them into the US. The fee when I did this 7 years ago was $18 for the certificate and it covered all of the plants. I actually brought the plants into my workplace, he came there, inspected them there and issued the certificate. It was very easy.

So just look in the Government Blue Pages or use the 'contact us' box in the link above to find your local office, contact them and explain you are relocating to the US and have some special houseplants you would like to bring with you and ask if they can inspect them and issue a phytosanitary certificate for them. The inspector I spoke with said that they rarely have concerns about houseplants which have been in someone's possession for a while and that live indoors so you shouldn't have a problem - especially with the hibiscus. I brought an hibiscus with me as well.

[Andy and Kayla 45]

Kayla - goods that are less than one year in your possession are considered dutiable, although we weren't required to pay duty on anything I had that was less than 1 year old. You may find if Andy has to leave before you get your visa that he will find a sympathetic border guard once he explains that these are wedding gifts to the 2 of you and so also belong to him, especially if he brings evidence to show you are just waiting for your actual visa in order to enter. Legally, he is required to pay duty on them but the border authorities seem more concerned about large number of items for potential resale or expensive electronics or illegal copies of brand name items, etc. rather than legitimate personal belongings. Under your circumstances I suspect he wouldn't be turned back at the border since he does own the items and they would probably not require him to pay duty unless there was something really expensive - like a brand new big screen HD TV . It will depend on how much of a stickler for details the border guard is who he encounters and how honest he is. He should declare - if asked - that is he bringing in some wedding presents for his upcoming wedding in the US. Good luck.

It definitely isn't anything like that! Just some kitchen items and a couple minor house decor items. This is good to know, though - I know it's entirely up to the guard on duty and so no guarantee, but it's good to know they don't just down everyone's throat. I wouldn't send a ton of things with him and wouldn't bother sending any clothes. Thanks for this!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

It definitely isn't anything like that! Just some kitchen items and a couple minor house decor items. This is good to know, though - I know it's entirely up to the guard on duty and so no guarantee, but it's good to know they don't just down everyone's throat. I wouldn't send a ton of things with him and wouldn't bother sending any clothes. Thanks for this!

I suspect he won't have a problem if that is the route you end up going - and hopefully it will all be a moot point anyway because you'll you get the visa in time .

Edited June 26, 2011 by Kathryn41