Statue customs costs to Canada?

[Macethy]

Hi everyone

Who of you fellow Canadians import statues from the USA or other countries and can say how customs is calculated on them? I recently ordered a hoodie for the USA and ended up paying something like 40% in customs, because the item although purchased from the USA, it was made in China. Does this also apply to statues?

Any help would be apprecited!

[Matches Malone]

I have never had an experience like that and have brought dozens of statues into Canada from the US, Latin America, the UK and Asia.

Even that tax hit seems odd. My wife shops almost exclusively online for clothes and has never encountered that with products coming from the US and UK (but undoubtedly manufactured elsewhere)

[Macethy]

Originally Posted by Matches Malone

I have never had an experience like that and have brought dozens of statues into Canada from the US, Latin America, the UK and Asia.

Even that tax hit seems odd. My wife shops almost exclusively online for clothes and has never encountered that with products coming from the US and UK (but undoubtedly manufactured elsewhere)

Typical of my luck. Has happened to me twice now. First with the aforementioned hoodie and recently when my wife ordered a dress from the USA, WHAM 30% customs and tax.

[ambasah]

I believe clothing always gets hit with an additional customs charge (or should) unless it was manufactured in the USA.

Statues don't fall under the same category, as far as I understand. You still have to pay taxes regardless (just no additional customs fee).

[Y3E]

CBSA site has a guide you can download to determine what tax is charged on items. It's b!tch trying to find the correct category sometimes though.

I only got hit once with SS statue, 8%. I've been hit on car parts though. I forget what it was, 25% I think.

[risingstar]

Briefly, everything coming into Canada worth over $20 is supposed to be charged gst/pst (depending on whether or not the province charges pst), especially if it's shipped via FedEx or UPS. If shipped via Canadapost, you can ship as much as $75 without getting hit with taxes.

Here is where it gets tricky. Each product has a different type of code, i.e., clothes, electronics, collectibles, books, and so on, so not everything will have the same surcharge on top of the gst/pst. It all depends on whether or not that product is also/already being made in Canada. As Canada manufactures clothes, that kind of item will get dinged quite high. However, Canada does not make XM collectible statues so there should be no customs charge above the gst/pst. The purpose of Customs Duty is to protect each country's economy, residents, jobs, environment, etc., by controlling the flow of goods, especially if it's in direct competition with domestic products.