Once again, import fees for USA buyers of Japanese equipment post August 29, 2025

pentaxuser said:

On BBC news today, one of the headlines was "U.S. Government shut down". Might that effect the execution of tariff collection and if so, what will happen to imported goods such as items purchased from non U.S. sellers?

Just a thought

pentaxuser

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Rather than not collecting the tariff, the shipment of imported goods may just STOP until the agency reopens. However, since this particular work generates revenue (as opposed to much of government work that does not), this work may continue since it may be unaffected by a lack of government funding. Bottom line - who knows?

I would assume the shipping company would still collect the tariff and pay the agency when it reopens. There have been 8 US gov't shutdowns since I've been alive, and I know they've had some effects, but none that I ever noticed first-hand.

Thanks for the replies and Brian for the answer to my question. I just had no idea as it is a novel situation for which there is no "equivalent" in the U.K.

pentaxuser

Some additional hard data for folks to consider.

Purchase of a 25+ year old Sigma zoom lens, purchased from a seller in Japan.

Sale price of 343571.690 JPY / or roughly 2,300 USD.

Purchase date was Oct 19th 2025. Already on 21st package is received by DHL in the USA

In addition to roughly $20 of regulatory charges and Duty Tax processing fees, roughly $350 of import tax has been assessed.

The item is listed as subject to a Commodity Code of 9002.11.90


This suggests that the import duty should be 0.0% or 2.3%, depending on a variety of circumstances, as Japan carries a Special Duty Rate.

The invoice suggests a reason / purpose of export as COMMERCIAL PURPOSE OR SALE, which is not the case, as I do not intend to resell the lens nor rent it etc

I'll report back if I am successful in petitioning for post entry adjustment / duty refund of the 15% assessed fee.

RadStu said:

The invoice suggests a reason / purpose of export as COMMERCIAL PURPOSE OR SALE, which is not the case, as I do not intend to resell the lens nor rent it etc

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Well, the seller's reason of export is commercial/sale. What you'll do with the item doesn't matter.

loccdor said:

I would assume the shipping company would still collect the tariff and pay the agency when it reopens. There have been 8 US gov't shutdowns since I've been alive, and I know they've had some effects, but none that I ever noticed first-hand.

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It is extremely likely that the shipping company collects the import duty plus its fee, and periodically remits the total of all duties collected plus paperwork to the government. The fee can be burdensome or not, it depends on the company.

During a federal government shutdown, various employees get classified as "essential" or critical (or a similar word) and are still working. So at an airport, air traffic controllers, TSA, the CBP agents at the immigration entry point are all still there. They may not be getting paid, but the presumption (in all previous instances) is they'll get back pay. However, many "non-critical" employees are generally furloughed.

So for example if you went to a national park, there would probably still be law enforcement rangers working, but the regular rangers are likely furloughed and the gates may be closed. If you need to do something with a Fed office (like Social Security, Forest Service, NASA lab, etc) many of the staff are not there, or staffing is greatly reduced.

I was shopping some Japan listings and noted the reference to tarriff responsibilities. I know this can change on the whims and mood swings of someone but what's the reality of moderate level purchases (say <$500) tarriff fees that you've experienced.

Two threads combined - with some trepidation!

MattKing said:

Two threads combined - with some trepidation!

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Thanks. I had done a search and that thread hadn't popped up for me.... It sounds like there shouldn't be great surprises.

Recently I had to pay about $14 in tariffs and broker fees for a $150 item coming from Canada. The item was of Chinese origin and there were several tariff amounts charged. The broker/shipping company discounted about half the total amount.

I have recently seen three types or classes of eBay listings from Japanese sellers:

1. Product plus normal shipping ($30-40) and a warning that the buyer is responsible for all tariffs.
2. Product plus a shipping rate and a statement that the tariffs have been included in the price. Of course, local sales tax will still be collected depending on your home state.
3. Product plus a high shipping rate ($100 or more). It is unclear if this shipping rate includes the tariffs or is just an extreme rate.

I have not seen anyone note if a German product shipped from Japan (like a Leica item) has a different tariff than a Japanese-made product.

Makes me wonder what a Leica with a Cosina made Voigtlander lens coming in from Canada would be like

The US Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments at to the right of a president to impose tariffs. They were very skeptical that he had that power because a tariff is a tax on Americans and only Congress can legislate new taxes. So all these extra costs might go by the board soon if they rule against tariffs. Certain tariffs against 1 or 2 countries used as part of the president's control of foreign policy may be acceptable, but generalized tariffs such as the minimum under $800 that is applied to everyone wouldn't fall into that category. So this latter kind of tariff could be unconstitutional.

I recently got a (Japanese) lens from an ebay seller in Japan, and while there was some initial confusion about whether or not the import duties/tariffs were included, it ended up being a pretty painless process. eBay had a message on the listing page stating: “This item includes applicable import fees—you won’t pay anything extra after checkout”, which conflicted with the “Duties not included” banner that the seller had added to all the photos in the listing. I figured that even if I ended up having to pay tariffs on top of the cost of the lens, it would still work out to be a good deal, and it was; I ended up paying slightly less than if I had bought it from KEH.

The seller messaged me immediately after I sent my payment to let me know that I would be responsible for paying the customs duties and very politely gave me the option to cancel the sale if I didn’t want to deal with it. Once the package was with the carrier (DHL Express), I got a message from DHL with the bill for the additional charges: The cost of the lens was ~ $160 and the import fees were $22.50, plus $17 for “processing” on DHL’s part and $1.34 “regulatory charges”. Payment was easy to do online and overall it was as smooth as I could hope for.

I’m wondering if some overseas sellers may be lowering their “buy it now” prices to stay competitive given the extra duties US buyers are having to pay. Having tried it since the new customs duties were imposed, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from a seller in Japan again and I’m grateful to have the option, especially for used gear that might be scarce on this side of the pond.

In my case, although I knew I would be responsible for tariffs, I did not know how much they would be until I received a bill from UPS about 2 weeks after the item arrived.

Alan Edward Klein said:

The US Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments at to the right of a president to impose tariffs. They were very skeptical that he had that power because a tariff is a tax on Americans and only Congress can legislate new taxes. So all these extra costs might go by the board soon if they rule against tariffs. Certain tariffs against 1 or 2 countries used as part of the president's control of foreign policy may be acceptable, but generalized tariffs such as the minimum under $800 that is applied to everyone wouldn't fall into that category. So this latter kind of tariff could be unconstitutional.

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Even if the tariffs are ruled unconsitutional, I doubt that anybody who already paid a tariff will get a refund...

symbolica said:

I’m wondering if some overseas sellers may be lowering their “buy it now” prices

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It's certainly something that could lead to lower list prices from Japan. Since we're generally talking about items that exist in both countries. Likewise, it could lead to a raise of prices for the items that are already in the US. The ratio of the supply that's in either country compared to the demand from either country will be a part of the price discovery.

Since the yen is weak, it may not be such a bad deal for the Japanese seller even if they lower their USD price.

Pieter12 said:

In my case, although I knew I would be responsible for tariffs, I did not know how much they would be until I received a bill from UPS about 2 weeks after the item arrived.

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DHL gave a more immediate bill than UPS in my experience as well. Though the bill was also higher as a percentage of the transaction.

Even if tariffs disappear, the end of the diminimus rule will stand?
(With an 80-200$ fee for customs)?

loccdor said:

It's certainly something that could lead to lower list prices from Japan. Since we're generally talking about items that exist in both countries. Likewise, it could lead to a raise of prices for the items that are already in the US. The ratio of the supply that's in either country compared to the demand from either country will be a part of the price discovery.

Since the yen is weak, it may not be such a bad deal for the Japanese seller even if they lower their USD price.



DHL gave a more immediate bill than UPS in my experience as well. Though the bill was also higher as a percentage of the transaction.

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Why would/should Japanese dealers lower prices? They don't pay the VAT for Euro customers or GST for Canadian customers. Why should they absorb the tariffs set by the U.S. govt....?

GregY said:

Why would/should Japanese dealers lower prices? They don't pay the VAT for Euro customers or GST for Canadian customers. Why should they absorb the tariffs set by the U.S. govt....?

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They may find that it helps them sell items faster and increases their profits. Theoretically there's an optimal price to set to maximize profit. The percentage of the market that exists in each place matters with regards to that. I don't know how the used photography gear market compares USA vs. Europe, but USA's market is definitely bigger than Canada's.

My comments were just about the economics of it all, I'm not bringing any moral judgements into it.

loccdor said:

They may find that it helps them sell items faster and increases their profits. Theoretically there's an optimal price to set to maximize profit. The percentage of the market that exists in each place matters with regards to that. I don't know how the used photography gear market compares USA vs. Europe, but USA's market is definitely bigger than Canada's.

My comments were just about the economics of it all, I'm not bringing any moral judgements into it.

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That's based on the assumption that the US is the most significant buyer of cameras from Japan......
which is likely not the case....
There are many brick & mortar camera stores in Japan, & I'm sure those overheads aren't covered purely by internet sales.

Are you sure about that? The US is the largest economy in the world. It's the 3rd most populous country in the world.

You could suggest China as another contender, being the 2nd largest economy, largest population, and close in proximity to Japan, but the low income there is a big mitigating factor.

The US is certainly in the top few countries buying cameras from Japan, if not the highest. I'd be very surprised if it wasn't #1 and would be happy to be corrected with data.

loccdor said:

Are you sure about that? The US is the largest economy in the world. It's the 3rd most populous country in the world.

You could suggest China as another contender, being the 2nd largest economy, largest population, and close in proximity to Japan, but the low income there is a big mitigating factor.

The US is certainly in the top few countries buying cameras from Japan, if not the highest. I'd be very surprised if it wasn't #1 and would be happy to be corrected with data.

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I lived in Japan for a period of time and have visited a number of times over the years. If the internet sales were such a big deal, why haven't they gone à la KEH and closed their stores? While the USA may be the big economy...... how does that reflect in the % of used camera sales from foreign countries? I don't know statistically, but i'd guess that not all of the USA large economy are in the niche market for vintage Leicas from Japan.

I don't know if you've used the US version of eBay, and searched for camera gear there, but it's not uncommon for more than half the results of any given search on specific equipment to be from Japanese sellers. And their sticker prices tend to be lower than what the US sellers are charging: they have to be, if they weren't, they'd be locking themselves out of that market.

For example, I just searched eBay for "Olympus Pen F" and sorted by price. Out of the first 20 results, 14 are Japanese, 6 are US sellers.

For Canada to be a bigger import market than US for Japanese cameras, due to the population difference, the Canadian interest in these products would have to be 8 or 9 times the US interest per capita... nothing about that adds up to me as realistic. Frankly, I find people from Canada and the US to be very similar in their interests.