The actual wording of Tariff code 9903.01.33 that is kicking our ass.

yes it is ... you know far better than me. the good news is that i have already paid the proper tariff, the only thing i have to pay is their brokerage fee and any penalty ... which in reality i shouldn't pay since i paid the tariff in advance. of course they will say i paid their fee. i'm saddled up for a fight, its not the money, its the principle of the thing.
 
I paid my three tariff fees before my packages got delivered and then I recently received what looked like a bill from UPS for the tariff amounts. Given that I paid the tariffs through their website each time you think they would have records of the payment. I also see a battle brewing so that I’m not doubly charged, let alone the battle to recoup the incorrectly charged original tariff amount. It’s all ludicrous - $100 tariff for a bunch of rubber window parts with no metal in them that couldn’t weigh more than 5 pounds with box and packing and then $40 for a complete stainless steel exhaust system that came in a massive box and was 100% metal.
 
I ordered some parts from W-N a couple of days ago. I then got a message from UPS saying that they were on hold until the proper tariff classification could be determined. They required that I send them the W-N invoice, which clearly spells out the tariff classification and cites a 15% tariff based on the EU-US agreement. I repeated this statement in the "comments" section of the response. I am hoping that this implies that UPS is now trying to get ahead of these issues instead of becoming a public enemy by applying the worst case tariffs first and then sweeping up the mess (or not) after the fact...

I just checked UPS, and the package is no longer on hold and is on its way. Remains to be seen what charges get attached to it at the US side.

We'll see...
 
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I just got pistons from Greece with DHL and they charged me a $314 tariff (about 50%)...I went back and forth with them a bit (they actually responded quickly) and finally sent a nicely worded letter to the dispute dept. about 50 year old car parts, supporting the tariffs for big businesses, but thought the little guys getting beat up this bad for their hobby seemed wrong...also asked if my parts would fit under the classic exemption code of 8703.23.0190. They responded within the day, seemed to agree, and are refunding all but about $100, which is what I had expected to pay. DHL for the win.
 
Update on my W-N Parts: A few days after providing the form requested by UPS (See post #46 above), I got another notice from UPS. This one was a "customs exception" notice. It said customs needed additional information to be provided by the customer... There was, however, no indication of what specific information was required, no link to provide it, and no information about where to send the information, assuming I knew what it was.

I called UPS and got shunted off to the international shipping department. A kind woman let me know I needed to fill out and send back a Section 272 copper, steel, aluminum form. She emailed me the form. It was very simple., It requested the commodity number, country of origin of the steel, weight of the steel, and the "steel content value".

I was able to get the code and the country of origin (Poland) from the W-N invoice. I estimated the weight, and looked up what was meant by "steel content value". This turned out to be the value of the raw steel used to make the part. So the raw material cost. I again estimated this by Googling the price per kg of cold rolled 18 Ga steel in the EU. I then added that to the form and the value, and sent it back to UPS. Within an hour I received another email alert that they had received my paperwork and released the parts for export. The next day I checked the UPS site and saw that the parts had made it from Koln to Kentucky in about 15 hours, and are scheduled to be delivered here in Northern California tomorrow.

As yet, I have not received any request for a tariff payment from UPS. The exception notification occurred on the 16th. I have no idea how or why this package took this route and why previous ones did not, but I'm going to accept my good luck!

I am also expecting my Mike Pelly floors to arrive from Canada the day after tomorrow. On those, I had to pay a $67 tariff.

So, to some extent the tariff madness seems to be stabilizing. We'll have to see how long this lasts now that the Toddler in Chief is threatening more tariffs because he got stiffed by the Nobel prize committee, and wants Greenland as a consolation prize....o_O:oops:

Here is the shipping history:
Screenshot 2026-01-19 at 9.09.07 AM.png
 
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I see an easy option to get rich: Quickly ship E9 parts to Greenland, then who knows, it may be tariff-free in a year.
By the Way, the Dutch want New Amsterdam back (you english speaking lot started calling it New York, but we'll replace the signs, don't worry)

(Non-political; just trying to lighten it up. I just hope the madness dissappeares quickly and we can resume back to normal)
 
All....sorry all this nonsense with Tariffs is happening. I have this dream that the Supreme Court will rule against them, and that we will all receive refunds. And life will then return to its regularly scheduled programming.
 
I see an easy option to get rich: Quickly ship E9 parts to Greenland, then who knows, it may be tariff-free in a year.
By the Way, the Dutch want New Amsterdam back (you english speaking lot started calling it New York, but we'll replace the signs, don't worry)

(Non-political; just trying to lighten it up. I just hope the madness dissappeares quickly and we can resume back to normal)
Just please don't replace the signs with faux gilded ones!!
 
[td]

Due to the announcement from the US President of additional 10 % customs
for all orders from Germany we would like to inform you about this situation.

If you order directly in our shop or by email we can ship at once to you
and you can avoid the additional 10 % customs.

We think this is only the beginning of higher customs for the future.
So please act and order immediately before it gets more expensive for you.

To avoid the higher customs fees you have to order til Friday 23rd January 2026
because we have to send it latest by Monday 26th January 2026.

We are sorry about this situation but we have no influence on it.​
[/td]​
 
Just an fyi I received from WN- back in October...
still waiting for my parts.......





Dear Mr. Ashton,

Without knowing exactly which items are involved, it is difficult to make a
statement.

UPS informed us over the weekend that there are severe problems with customs
clearance in the USA.
In some cases, customs clearance is taking longer than usual and in other
cases, unjustified customs duties of 50% to 100% are charged.
The problem is expected to be resolved by 13 October 2025, at which point
parcels should once again be cleared reliably and correctly.

Best regards
CFO Elke Nesch

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dipl. Ing. Albrecht Walloth u. Alexander Nesch GbR
Im Ohl 69
D-59757 Arnsberg

Email: [email protected]
Phone: +49 (0) 2932 - 900 4517
 
trying to figure out if the last paragraph here from CBP means our stuff goes up higher or lowers......






Thank you for contacting the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Information Center.

CBP officers will determine the duty based on the parts and what country they were made in.

Effective August 29, 2025, an Executive Order suspended the duty-free treatment for low-value (de minimis) shipments (valued at or under $800) from all countries.

Duty estimates are available from your nearest CBP port of entry and a CBP officer can provide approximate duty as well as general import information. Contact information and hours of operation for your nearest port of entry is available at http://www.cbp.gov/contact/ports. Please click the U.S. state on the map and then choose the Port Name.

Note: Effective August 29, 2025, de minimis duty-free treatment under 19 U.S.C. § 1321(a)(2)(C) will no longer be available for shipments entering into the United States not covered by 50 U.S.C. § 1702(b), including those entering through international mail. importer goods from all countries that are valued at or below $800 will no longer be eligible for de minimis treatment and will be subject to all applicable duties, taxes, and fees.

Non-postal Shipments

Non-postal shipments will be subject to all applicable duties, taxes, and fees and must be filed using an appropriate entry type in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) by a party qualified to make entry.

Postal Shipments

All postal shipments will be subject to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs, which can be assessed using one of two methods:

- Ad valorem duty: a duty equal to the effective IEEPA tariff of the country of origin of the product, based on the value of the product
.
- Specific duty: A duty ranging from $80 per item to $200 per item depending on the effect of IEEPA tariff rate applicable to the country of origin of the product.

The specific duty option will be available for six months: all shipments must use the adverb lorem method beginning February 28th, 2026. Qualified parties will be eligible to file data with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and pay duties and postal shipments in lieu of carriers.

Thank you again for contacting our office.

Regards,

Mark
CBP Information Center

NOTE: The answers provided in this forum are for general information purposes only. Utilizing this forum does not constitute reasonable care under the Informed Compliance guidelines.

The CBP Information Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 8:00 p.m., Eastern Time. We are closed on U.S. federal holidays. Our toll-free line within the United States is (877) 227-5511. International callers can reach us during our hours of operation by dialing 00+1+202-325-8000.
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Don't hold your breath boonies. Trump just backtracked, again, about Tarriffs at the Economic Forum currently underway. We are only in the First Roound of a three year bout. Imagine the possibilities. Well, actually I can't begin to. Nor do I want to. Oh woe is us.
 
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