I didn't order
sails, but I ordered a
roller furler from
New Zealand and a
wind vane from
Germany. The process was quite different for each of these. The bottom line is that if the shipper and/or vendor does not specify the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) code, it'll be up to the
customs broker to look at the material, make the best-guess at what it is made of, then look it up in the HTS table for the tariff percentage.
Something else to keep in mind. Tariff is calculated against the cost of the
parts, and not any
shipping charges. Make sure that the
Commercial Invoice clearly lists cost of goods separate from cost of
shipping.
For NZ, the actual tariff was around $90, but various
fees pushed the total to over $400. The
furler company doesn't do much business with the US and used a freight forwarder company. When the package arrived in Atlanta, I had to hire a
broker to clear
customs. The freight forwarding company, of course, made it easy (but expensive?) to hire their in-house broker.
For DE, the vendor has been shipping to the US for decades and used UPS. The duty was almost nothing. No additional fees, no broker fees. Very easy.
It all depends on how well the shipping company knows the Harmonized Tariff System, which is what is consulted to determine the duty. If the shipper can select a HS code that has a low tariff. Additionally, some countries has favored
trade status; consequently no tariff on some materials. For example, if I had bought the
furler in
Australia, I would not have had to pay any tariff. The broke in Atlanta examined the furler system, saw a lot of
aluminum parts (mostly the foils) and used
aluminum aluminum to look up the tariff in the Harmonized Tariff System. They basically went down the list and landed on "other", at 2.5% tariff
If you fall into the first scenario and have to directly deal with a customs broker, among the fees will be a $150 "Clearance/Entry" fee. This is mostly profit and is very negotiable, even when they have you by the balls with our package already in Atlanta (or where ever). You have no choice but to pay; however, ask them to drop it to $90 or $100, they likely will.
Attached is the HTS file I downloaded last fall when I imported the furler. It's for aluminum products and it might help you understand the process.
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