Tradd
8-23-18, 10:18pm
This could belong in workplace issues, but I thought I'd put it here, even though I explicitly said it was not political on FB.
I’m a licensed customs broker, for those who don’t know what I do to pay for the diving obsession. I clear imported goods through Customs on behalf of importers. Third party, don’t work for Customs, just licensed by them.
I swear the continuing tariff situation is making people stupid, inept, and incapable of doing the simplest math. I’m on the verge of going nuclear on someone. The new tariffs are an additional 25% on top of whatever the current duty is. So if your shipment of widgets from China has a declared value of $25,000 and standard duty is 3%, the additional duty is $25,000 x 3% + $25,000 x 25%. I can’t help if you’re incapable of using a calculator. We also cannot look up the tariff number a customer uses and tell them if it’s on the list or not, due to liability issues. We give them the link to the 200-something page list. They whine like little schoolgirls that it’s “too hard” and they can’t figure it out. If they can tell us what tariff number is used for their entries, then they can f’ing look it up on the damned list. I swear a lobotomy wouldn’t solve these people’s stupidity issues.
And don’t even get me started on the one customer who was stupid enough to put in writing that they wanted us to help them find another tariff number so they could skirt having to pay the extra 25%. I shut that shit down right away. Told them it was illegal and that Customs takes a really dim view of people who try to get away with not paying duties. Called it what it is per the penalties part of the Customs regs - fraud. What an absolute idiot.
I've had one customer who looked really closely at the classification on one of their items. They think they might have been using the incorrect classification for more than 10 years. They have a legitimate reason to switch classifications. I strongly suggested they consult their customs trade attorney. Said trade attorney said that even thought they *could* switch, it would look highly suspicious right now, as the new classification would not be subject to the additional 25% duty. A switch right now would bring Customs down on them like white on rice.
I’m a licensed customs broker, for those who don’t know what I do to pay for the diving obsession. I clear imported goods through Customs on behalf of importers. Third party, don’t work for Customs, just licensed by them.
I swear the continuing tariff situation is making people stupid, inept, and incapable of doing the simplest math. I’m on the verge of going nuclear on someone. The new tariffs are an additional 25% on top of whatever the current duty is. So if your shipment of widgets from China has a declared value of $25,000 and standard duty is 3%, the additional duty is $25,000 x 3% + $25,000 x 25%. I can’t help if you’re incapable of using a calculator. We also cannot look up the tariff number a customer uses and tell them if it’s on the list or not, due to liability issues. We give them the link to the 200-something page list. They whine like little schoolgirls that it’s “too hard” and they can’t figure it out. If they can tell us what tariff number is used for their entries, then they can f’ing look it up on the damned list. I swear a lobotomy wouldn’t solve these people’s stupidity issues.
And don’t even get me started on the one customer who was stupid enough to put in writing that they wanted us to help them find another tariff number so they could skirt having to pay the extra 25%. I shut that shit down right away. Told them it was illegal and that Customs takes a really dim view of people who try to get away with not paying duties. Called it what it is per the penalties part of the Customs regs - fraud. What an absolute idiot.
I've had one customer who looked really closely at the classification on one of their items. They think they might have been using the incorrect classification for more than 10 years. They have a legitimate reason to switch classifications. I strongly suggested they consult their customs trade attorney. Said trade attorney said that even thought they *could* switch, it would look highly suspicious right now, as the new classification would not be subject to the additional 25% duty. A switch right now would bring Customs down on them like white on rice.