Tariffs: A Cautionary Tale

[Kawika]

Originally Posted by steve B

So they're adding 25% to everything no matter where it comes from?
That seems a bit overboard, and maybe not the government but the agent.

That is pretty much the gist of my question, as of yet unanswered by the Fed Ex broker. I had a look at the United States Surtax Order (2025-1) he cited, hoping to learn what is subject to the tariff and what is not, but came away no wiser. At the present time I do not know if all eBay items, Amazon purchases, AH winnings etc will be accompanied by another fat hand in my wallet.

I requested that he forward my cards to a friend in the States who can hold onto them until the trade war is over. "Smuggling" is not an option at this point. I am up to my eyeballs in pilikia already. Don't need any more grief.

Speaking of the Stanley Cup, there's a bit of hoopla right now in Victoria BC where I live. On March 30, 1925 the Victoria Cougars beat the Montreal Canadiens in a best-of-five series at Patrick Arena which stood less than a mile from our house. The Cup will be brought back this weekend and various festivities are planned. Looking forward to seeing the hardware.

Commemorative cairn at Oak Bay High School across the street from where Patrick Arena once stood



1925 team postcard

[edjs]

Originally Posted by Kawika

That is pretty much the gist of my question, as of yet unanswered by the Fed Ex broker. I had a look at the United States Surtax Order (2025-1) he cited, hoping to learn what is subject to the tariff and what is not, but came away no wiser. At the present time I do not know if all eBay items, Amazon purchases, AH winnings etc will be accompanied by another fat hand in my wallet.

I requested that he forward my cards to a friend in the States who can hold onto them until the trade war is over. "Smuggling" is not an option at this point. I am up to my eyeballs in pilikia already. Don't need any more grief.

Speaking of the Stanley Cup, there's a bit of hoopla right now in Victoria BC where I live. On March 30, 1925 the Victoria Cougars beat the Montreal Canadiens in a best-of-five series at Patrick Arena which stood less than a mile from our house. The Cup will be brought back this weekend and various festivities are planned. Looking forward to seeing the hardware.

Commemorative cairn at Oak Bay High School across the street from where Patrick Arena once stood



1925 team postcard

Kris Draper’s kid pooped in it, so don’t kiss it. Which is a nice segue, since they later became the Red Wings.

[Balticfox]

I'm hearing some nightmarish stories from other Canadian collectors. A posting buddy/trading partner just "won" some cards in an online auction for U.S.$61.00 which would have worked out to about Cdn.$87.37 at an exchange rate of 1.43225. GST of 13% would have added Cdn.$11.36. A 25% tariff added Cdn.$21.84 for a total of $33.20 in government charges. Meanwhile FedEx charged him a customs brokerage fee of $35.07 to collect that $33.20. So my buddy was left battered and bleeding.

Here's another account:

Originally Posted by gadesja

My bill from Tom was $235.82US including $24 for shipping. Not unreasonable. However once Customs got involved I was dinged for another $153.33CA!! So my total was over $500CA.

So I'm afraid, very afraid, of the charges I'll see on three packages I'm now awaiting from the States.

[Exhibitman]

Maybe vault expensive graded stuff in the USA until this BS is over?