Emerald Guitars - Import duties/fees?

[KevinH]

For anyone in the US that has bought an Emerald, do you recall what if any import duties you paid? Emerald's FAQ says "it depends", which I can understand. But I'd like to get a rough idea of any fees that get added onto the purchase price. I assume there will be use taxes that are specific to each state, but what about other fees?

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by KevinH

For anyone in the US that has bought an Emerald, do you recall what if any import duties you paid? Emerald's FAQ says "it depends", which I can understand. But I'd like to get a rough idea of any fees that get added onto the purchase price. I assume there will be use taxes that are specific to each state, but what about other fees?

I didn't pay any import fees on my 2019 Emerald X20.

[jdinco]

I hate it when someone says "Use the Search function" ....but this was a topic not too long ago that may have a lot of info in it for you.

[RP]

Originally Posted by jdinaz

I hate it when someone says "Use the Search function" ....but this was a topic not too long ago that may have a lot of info in it for you.

My memory may be off, but I kind of recall doing a prior poll on this topic...

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...ight=duty+fees

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...ight=duty+fees

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by jdinaz

I hate it when someone says "Use the Search function" ....but this was a topic not too long ago that may have a lot of info in it for you.

Originally Posted by RP

My memory may be off, but I kind of recall doing a prior poll on this topic...

A rookie mistake! I'll claim a senior moment. I believe we're allowed one per month, or is it year?

Thanks for the links.

[PassingThru]

My X7 is scheduled to arrive in two days. No import fees.

[David Eastwood]

There should be no fees, duties or taxes.

Some folks have been unfortunate enough to encounter them, but in all cases, they seem to have been as a result of an over-zealous bureaucrat enforcing a misunderstood rule here in the US.

[RP]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

There should be no fees, duties or taxes.

Some folks have been unfortunate enough to encounter them, but in all cases, they seem to have been as a result of an over-zealous bureaucrat enforcing a misunderstood rule here in the US.

Yeh, the operative word being "should"...

Originally Posted by PassingThru

My X7 is scheduled to arrive in two days. No import fees.

I hope you're right, but don't think that the dreaded import fees surface until delivery...

[Barb1]

Hi,
I have four Emeralds. I did not pay import duties on any of them.
Barb

[RP]

I just received my new Emerald X20, and there was no US Customs fee...

[billyg]

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

There should be no fees, duties or taxes.

Some folks have been unfortunate enough to encounter them, but in all cases, they seem to have been as a result of an over-zealous bureaucrat enforcing a misunderstood rule here in the US.

David seems confident of this answer and he could very well be right. I hope he is right. I just ordered an X10 Slimline.
However, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedules, imported guitars from countries without trade preferences seem to be classified as follows:
- 9202.90.40 = seems to cover acoustic guitars valued over $100 and appears to call for an 8.7% ad valorem rate of duty.
- 9207.90.40 = seems to cover fretted stringed instruments (electric guitars) that need to be amplified with a pickup and appears to call for a 5% ad valorem duty.

Whether or not an acoustic guitar with a pickup would fall under 9202.90.40 or 9207.90.40 is at least a little arguable.

Having written all of this, I do not profess to be an import duty expert. The tariff schedule has a lot of exceptions, different classifications, that could drive a Customs decision. I also imagine that since these purchases are on an individual basis and are not part of a larger shipment from a single company, that the application of the duty by Customs could be hit or miss in any given instance, which could explain why some are getting charged and others are not.
I hope this helps a little.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by billyg

David seems confident of this answer and he could very well be right. I hope he is right. I just ordered an X10 Slimline.
However, under the Harmonized Tariff Schedules, imported guitars from countries without trade preferences seem to be classified as follows:
- 9202.90.40 = seems to cover acoustic guitars valued over $100 and appears to call for an 8.7% ad valorem rate of duty.
- 9207.90.40 = seems to cover fretted stringed instruments (electric guitars) that need to be amplified with a pickup and appears to call for a 5% ad valorem duty.

Whether or not an acoustic guitar with a pickup would fall under 9202.90.40 or 9207.90.40 is at least a little arguable.

Having written all of this, I do not profess to be an import duty expert. The tariff schedule has a lot of exceptions, different classifications, that could drive a Customs decision. I also imagine that since these purchases are on an individual basis and are not part of a larger shipment from a single company, that the application of the duty by Customs could be hit or miss in any given instance, which could explain why some are getting charged and others are not.
I hope this helps a little.

My confidence is based on observing much commentary from folks who’ve purchased Emerald guitars, and had them shipped to the US - probably at least a couple of dozen, if not more since I became interested in the subject some 3 or 4 years ago. My interest includes the 3 I’ve purchased, without the imposition of any such tariffs on import. I haven’t kept count over the years, but I’d guess that there may have been 4 or 5 such occurrences over that time documented here, all of which seem to have been capricious to one extent or another, with no commonality in amounts, percentages, or even methods of enforcement. I’ve also been part of a CF group on Facebook for quite a while, and don’t recall a single report there, among several ‘NGD’ posts.

Emerald documents very clearly what’s inside the box, so if it clearly fell into one of the tariffs that applied to goods imported into the US from Ireland, then customs (or whoever) is missing a lot, and there are an awful lot of lucky buyers out there

I sincerely hope your experience is equally fortunate - or routine - and that you’re very happy with your Slimline when it arrives!