What countries have no import duty to the USA?

[singaporepatek]

I’m looking at a few Pateks overseas and am living in the USA right now. Does anyone know which countries you can buy watches from abroad that are duty free to the US?

https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements

Per this website the US has free trade agreements with these 20 countries INCLUDING Singapore and Bahrain. Does this mean private Patek watch purchases in the US from dealers in these countries will result in no import duty to the Us buyer?

[Tools]

Free Trade Treaties mean that trade moves freely between countries with agreed upon tariffs, taxes and duties.

It doesn't mean that things are "free".

[singaporepatek]

Originally Posted by Tools

Free Trade Treaties mean that trade moves freely between countries with agreed upon tariffs, taxes and duties.



It doesn't mean that things are "free".

Well that’s a scam if I ever heard one.

[Fat_ninja]

Originally Posted by Tools

Free Trade Treaties mean that trade moves freely between countries with agreed upon tariffs, taxes and duties.

It doesn't mean that things are "free".

Lol

[Tools]

Originally Posted by singaporepatek

Well that’s a scam if I ever heard one.

You think that's bad.

"Duty Free Shops" mean that they didn't pay duty because the watch was never imported into that country/cruise ship/airport, and so should be selling to you cheaper. However, it doesn't mean that it is "duty free" for you, you still have to pay the duty to whichever country you are going to.

[BigAppleBill]

Any watch purchase over (I believe at last check) $4500US that a seller ships to the US from another country is charged a customs duty that is due before you can take delivery. I’ve been through the process a few times with watch purchases from overseas dealers from Italy, the UK and Japan. The shipping company (FedEx, UPS, etc) notifies you of the package’s arrival in the US and arranges payment for you. It’s pretty easy. But you obviously need to factor in the customs fees to the price of the watch you’re buying.

[singaporepatek]

How much duty do you get charged on watches from Italy, UK, and Japan? Let’s say a $20,000 watch for example.

[BigAppleBill]

Originally Posted by singaporepatek

How much duty do you get charged on watches from Italy, UK, and Japan? Let’s say a $20,000 watch for example.

Maybe around $1K?? Sorry. I don’t have that info readily available. I suggest giving FedEx a call. I’m sure they can direct you to a customs specialist who can answer your questions. You may also want to try contacting US Customs directly. The answer to your question might be found on their website.

[golfski]

Originally Posted by BigAppleBill

Any watch purchase over (I believe at last check) $4500US that a seller ships to the US from another country is charged a customs duty that is due before you can take delivery. I’ve been through the process a few times with watch purchases from overseas dealers from Italy, the UK and Japan. The shipping company (FedEx, UPS, etc) notifies you of the package’s arrival in the US and arranges payment for you. It’s pretty easy. But you obviously need to factor in the customs fees to the price of the watch you’re buying.

I imported a watch through FedEx from a private sale. The shipper/seller will fill out a form that details the value of the watch. They will say the movement is $x and case is y, etc. that will determine the import cost. There is a calculator online in FedEx somewhere where you can calculate the duty. It’s pretty detailed, you indicate if it’s automatic, PM, number of joules, etc.

On my $37k 5524g, I paid about $400 import duty/fees. Looking at the breakdown, most of the value was assigned to the movement, which had a flat fee vs. a % of value (case, etc). This was not determined by me but the seller/shipper.

Also, I just got a bill about two weeks later from FedEx, I had to pay nothing up front to FedEx or the shipper.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by singaporepatek

Per this website the US has free trade agreements with these 20 countries INCLUDING Singapore and Bahrain. Does this mean private Patek watch purchases in the US from dealers in these countries will result in no import duty to the Us buyer?

No

[BigAppleBill]

Originally Posted by golfski

I imported a watch through FedEx from a private sale. The shipper/seller will fill out a form that details the value of the watch. They will say the movement is $x and case is y, etc. that will determine the import cost. There is a calculator online in FedEx somewhere where you can calculate the duty. It’s pretty detailed, you indicate if it’s automatic, PM, number of joules, etc.

On my $37k 5524g, I paid about $400 import duty/fees. Looking at the breakdown, most of the value was assigned to the movement, which had a flat fee vs. a % of value (case, etc). This was not determined by me but the seller/shipper.

Also, I just got a bill about two weeks later from FedEx, I had to pay nothing up front to FedEx or the shipper.

I only speak from my own experiences. I have no idea why your experience varied so significantly. I think it’s best for OP to do his own due diligence.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by BigAppleBill

Any watch purchase over (I believe at last check) $4500US

Where did this figure come from?

[BigAppleBill]

Originally Posted by beshannon

Where did this figure come from?

Was told this by FedEx customs specialist several months ago. If you have other info, please share.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by BigAppleBill

Was told this by FedEx customs specialist several months ago. If you have other info, please share.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/internati...toms-duty-info

[golfski]

Originally Posted by BigAppleBill

I only speak from my own experiences. I have no idea why your experience varied so significantly. I think it’s best for OP to do his own due diligence.

Same here, only imported once and the above was my experience. I did do a bunch of research and you can estimate what it will cost - https://www.fedex.com/EDT?cntry_code=dm is a calculator on FedEx. It all comes down to Harmonized Codes, which is how you identify what you are shipping and how that breaks down and assigns cost to tariffs, duties, etc.

For my watch, the breakdown was as follows. As you can see some things are fixed cost (movement based on number of Jules) and some are percentage based (case).



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[uscmatt99]

See below regarding Israel, Jordan, Chile and Singapore. I've never brought something in from one of those countries back to the US before.

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/internati...toms-duty-info

Countries With Free or Reduced Customs Duty Rates

The United States gives Customs duty preferences-that is, conditionally free or subject to reduced rates-to certain designated beneficiary developing countries under a trade program called the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Some products that would otherwise be dutiable are not when they are wholly the growth, product, or manufacture of a beneficiary GSP country. Visit the Office of United States Trade Representative website for additional GSP information.

Similarly:
Many products from Caribbean and Andean countries are exempt from duty under the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, Andean Trade Preference Act and the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act.
Many products from certain sub-Saharan African countries are exempt from duty under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
Most products from Israel, Jordan, Chile and Singapore may also enter the United States either free of duty or at a reduced rate under the U.S. free trade agreements with those countries.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in 1994. If you are returning from Canada or Mexico, your goods are eligible for free or reduced duty rates if they were grown, manufactured, or produced in Canada or Mexico, as defined by the Act.

[Doc Savage]

Originally Posted by BigAppleBill

Any watch purchase over (I believe at last check) $4500US that a seller ships to the US from another country is charged a customs duty that is due before you can take delivery. I’ve been through the process a few times with watch purchases from overseas dealers from Italy, the UK and Japan. The shipping company (FedEx, UPS, etc) notifies you of the package’s arrival in the US and arranges payment for you. It’s pretty easy. But you obviously need to factor in the customs fees to the price of the watch you’re buying.

I think the threshold is much lower - something like $800. I imported a watch to the US from Germany last year totaling less than $1,000, and I got hit with (small) import duties.

[77T]

Late to this thread, but my question is why does the PP especially need to come from outside the US?

The OP can easily get what he wants on TRF.


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[watchucallit]

In some states you have to add sales tax. So in California add 9+% sales tax

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by 77T

Late to this thread, but my question is why does the PP especially need to come from outside the US?

The OP can easily get what he wants on TRF.


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Well since the OP is banned we will never know

[seansong93]

The US is actually one of the best places to be as you can skip a majority of the import duties as they have a pretty archaic declaration system.

Make sure you fill in the watch and clock worksheet, you can find it online, and when you break the cost down, declare most of it on the movement, and less on the case. (big difference in the taxable percentage)

[frommer]

And what if the watch was originally sold in the USA and been shipped back?

[CastorKrieg]

Originally Posted by golfski

On my $37k 5524g, I paid about $400 import duty/fees. Looking at the breakdown, most of the value was assigned to the movement, which had a flat fee vs. a % of value (case, etc). This was not determined by me but the seller/shipper.

As someone from Europe this is ridiculously low amount to pay for import. In the EU it would have been easy $4000-5000 (since import duties will be a percentage on top of item value + VAT, which on it's own is 20%+ on vast majority of goods).