Official Luthiers Forum!

I've been doing some business in the US as of late.

I've shipped a few with no problems, so far (fingers crossed and knocking on wood).

My next bright idea is to drive a shipment of guitars across the border, as I'm not that far from it. None of the woods are cites listed, none of them have pearl or bone. It's about 6k$ of merchandise. Here's what I know for sure...

I need to go through the commercial lane.

The rest is spec.

I'm thinking that if I have the invoices (showing them as paid for, which they will be), and the proper Lacey docs filled out, and the address to where I'm taking them, I should be ok?

As long as I declare them and have the proper tariff codes showing them as being duty free, it will all go off without a hitch, yes? Ahem...

If anyone has done/does this, I would sure appreciate some insight. Unfortunately calling the us authorities for direct instructions is about as fruitful, well, as calling any large bureaucracy and trying to get anyone to commit to an answer....

Six, and hoping (planning) on an in store demo meet and greet...

Considering that you are doing a commercial crossing, I anticipate that border officials would expect you to have all requisite paperwork and to be less forgiving if you do not.

If you attempt to cross without proper documentation, then you could be jeopardizing or complicate future crossings.

I have not done any commercial exporting but have driven across with commercial imports, the process and necessary paperwork is much different than a personal crossing. If you have only tariff codes (and no export documents) to show that the guitars are duty free then I think you are setting yourself up for difficulties.

Do you have a registered import/export account with RC? That is necessary even if you are a sole proprietor.

Depending on the material used in the builds and their cites/lacey status, I believe there are specific ports of entry that must be used. Showing up at the wrong port of entry in itself may be a problem.

Have you (or anyone else on the forum) contacted a customs broker to inquire on their handling of the export process? Personally, in the least I would seek for a paid consultation with a brokerage professional to understand the process and requirements before attempting to export.

Six guitars is risky - why not cross first with one guitar, test the waters, then bring the remaining five on a follow-up trip? Even still, crossing with one versus five guitars may be a different proposition.

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David Radlin
http://www.facebook.com/radlin.guitars

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David Radlin
http://www.facebook.com/radlin.guitars

That is very helpful, thanks....

Turns out its no big deal. Just get a us based customs broker for the port you wish to use, and fill out various forms as they require. Including....well, once I've gone through the wringer, I'll share the gory details....

I have brought in a half duz through air cargo at SeaTac. All I had was a bill of sale and export paperwork from a freight forwarder. I had to pay a fee and an import tariff % of value determined by the country of origin and the date I brought it in. That was before Lacey though. A land crossing seems like it would be more problematic and I don't know how duty-free would come into play here.

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Pat

You may well be able to cross over with a US based customs broker and the correct paperwork as long as the guitars have no shell .... with the std issue USFW license (to import shell into the US), you cant just cross at any port of entry - there are designated ports for inspection, and AFAIK, none of them are at Canada/US land crossings .... in order to use those, you need a special USFW license exemption, and when I looked into the requirements to get one, I doubt they would issue one for guitars .. but then again you never know, they might.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

No shell or CITES restricted wood. Built border friendly. If there is such a thing.

In order to export guitars to the US from Canada, you need these 2 documents:

-A commercial invoice for every guitar
-A NAFTA Certificate of Origin (go to this link and click on the B232 form. You can fill it online and print. The explanations are on the second page of the document): http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications ... u-eng.html. The HS Tariff Classification Number for a guitar is 9202.90

These are the only 2 NAFTA requirements. I am not 100% sure about the CITES required forms (it seems to be an internal US policy, as the Canada Border Services Agency agent I talked to about 2 years ago did not mention anything about it), but I have shipped guitars to the US many times over the last few years and have never included any. It could be different if you are crossing the border with the guitars. You may be asked to hire a broker at the border.

I hope this helps

Cheers, and good luck

Patrick

Thanks,

Indeed, you are required to hire a customs broker. Which simplifies things greatly, cause now all I need to do is follow instructions and drive, two things I can do...

Oh, I forgot about NAFTA. So no import tax from Canada?

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Pat

"Oh, I forgot about NAFTA. So no import tax from Canada?"

No. There are no duties for guitars made in the US or Canada when imported by either country. This applies to hand made instruments. Not sure about factory made guitars though...

Patrick

Factory or handmade, no difference, it's about country of origin....

Sign ze papers...old man.

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I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

I haven't done anything like this before, but as someone who lives in a border state, I'll weigh in. I'd ask around in your local area about WHICH border crossing to use. They all follow the same laws, but they have different amounts of traffic going through, different employees, etc. Think of it like the DMV (or the Canadian equivalent) - the basic procedure is the same, but some are much easier to deal with than others. If you know people who pass through the border regularly, even for non professional reasons, I'd ask them and see what they have to say.