4 Oct
2002
4 Oct
'02
2:13 a.m.
I ship and receive goods all the time from here in Canada. Usually there is
no problem, except occasionally getting dinged on this end for GST (goods and
services tax). Since NAFTA (which I HATE generally), there is no duty on electronics
to my knowledge. It is unecessary to disable the equipment nor does it matter where
it was manufactured. One should avoid customs brokers like a plague and also UPS
which charges a brokerage fee. The customs forms are quite simple and more
designed to prevent entry for unauthorized goods. Considering how easy it is I'm
always annoyed with the USAers who won't ship to Canada. This is especially
prevalent among southerners who seem to live in some insular world and ignore a
market of 30 millian people. Don't think so ? Check ship-to's on E-Pay.
If the amount of computers is considerable I would simply contact US customs to
find out the steps to be taken. A former contributer to the list, IIRC pdp8.com
(can't
remember his name) bought out the leftover stock when DEC shut down Maynard. He
had something like 5 truckloads that he brought up to Toronto in U-Haul trucks. I got
in contact with him and eagerly offered to supplement his crew of family and friends,
but was turned down. :^( :^((
The Toronto collectors group I helped start was to do a tour of his operation but fell
apart before it occurred. He seemed to be a nice guy and could possibly offer valid
advice.
In checking his site I see that it is now in Niagara Falls. Don't know whether
he is still the owner but a phone call wouldn't hurt.
PDP8.COM
1477896 Ontario Limited
5444 Victoria Ave.
Niagara Falls, ON L2G 3L2
Canada
(905) 468-4597
Lawrence
lgwalker(a)mts.net
bigwalk_ca(a)yahoo.com
-----Original Message-----
From: cctalk-admin(a)classiccmp.org
[mailto:cctalk-admin@classiccmp.org]On
Behalf Of Eric Smith
Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 3:24 PM
To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org
Subject: Re: Paperwork to move classiccmps from .ca to .us?
........Eric Smith said:
A gentleman in Canada has some hardware that
he's willing to give
me (old computers in questionable state). Thing is, neither
one of us is
> sure if there's any paperwork required to bring these boxes
> over the border.
If the equipment was originally made in USA, it's no problem. Just
tell US Customs that you're reptriating it. They may want some proof
that it's made in USA. A label stating that is best, but even just
the address of the manufacturer being in the USA may be sufficient.
Failing that, you can just tell them that it's old scrap with no
commercial value. That's true, isn't it?
It might help to buy the equipment from him for a nominal price rather
than get it as a gift. If you buy it (for $25, perhaps) and have
a bill of sale, the import duty would be based on the sale price. But
if it's a gift, Customs would try to determine the value and
assess the
import duty based on that.
I'm not an expert, but I've brought computer equipment into
the US from
Canada twice without problems.
I usually am bringing stuff into Canada, but once I wanted to pass through
from Eastern Ontario into New York, through Syracuse, then back into Canada at
Buffalo. Problem was, I had about 20 HP 9000 series 300 machines with me coming
from Canada. The US Customs agent heard my story, looked at the HP plate that
said "Made in USA" and sent me on my way to Buffalo.
My experience going the other way has always been that a good explanation of
what you are doing, a reasonable valuation (more than $0 even if the stuff was a
gift to you), and a look by the agent at a date sticker or an IC with an early
eighties or beyond date will convince at least a supervisor that the goods have
very little value and that the real reason you are doing this is because of some
weakness in your mental powers.
Dan Cohoe