Duty on car parts imported from the UK into the US is 3.5%, I think.
Entire cars are 2.5% (I have an appeal going on this point on my jag
body now; Customs thinks it was parts, I say it was a car :-) When you
get stuff mailed in, they tag on a processing fee that's around $10-15.
I have occasionally received stuff without having to pay duty, but
they seem to have gotten better at spotting my orders recently :-)
When importing large and/or heavy items, it may be useful to go through
a customs broker. They'll handle all of the paperwork and the fees
are minimal. I had a brake upgrade kit for my TR8 from Rimmer Bros
handled this way. Considering the air fares, it might have been better
to have gone over, had a pint or two and brought it back as baggage.
There's a rather bizarre break even point for air freight vs ocean
freight. For small items it's cheaper to send it by air.
--
Paul Amaranth Manager User Services - office: (313) 370 4541 (also voicemail)
(internet) amaranth@vela.acs.oakland.edu | Amaranth's Law of Economics:
(bitnet) amaranth@oakland | Brit Sports cars + horses
(uucp) ...!uunet!umich!vela!amaranth | = $0
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