Hi,
What are, if any, the duty fees for fishing vessels purchased in Canada? I am trying to figure out all the smaller expenses related to this cumbersome Canadian vessel purchase procedure. Thank you for any help.
Katlian
2009-12-31 17:37:46
Greetings,
I brought a boat up from canada last year. I was told that every commercial vessel was now required to go through a customs broker. My brokerage bill was aroung $800.
Once and Future
2010-01-01 00:50:29
Tim:
Before paying a brokerage fee, I would call the Customs office in Ketchikan (which I presume you will use as your first landing in USA) and ask them what you need. If your experience is similar to mine, they will not be able to tell you what you need as they are not sure. I am not being a smart aleck, that is just what my experience was.
Katlian: did the $800 include some duty? Or was that just the fee you had to pay to get the broker to certify you owed no duty?
I think the official position of the Customs people is that it is not their responsibility to educate you as to what the requirements are. In fairness, I would say Customs folks were trying to be helpful, but just didn't have the info I needed. Which is strange, because they are the ones who are to make sure we've done it right.
Katlian
2010-01-01 02:08:27
I asked the boat broker in Canada for a list of customs brokers. The customs broker was able to furnish a quote before we entered into an agreement. I do not remember what the split was between fees and duty. I entered in Bellingham, the broker was in Blaine and furnished all entry documents to the customs agents in Bellingham before I arrived.
I felt like the cost was not out of hand. It made the whole process easy. The customs brokers work for you and are motivated to get what you want done. The US customs agents are really agreeable if all of the paperwork is tiptop.