doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Potential issues with importing parts

FYI, I spoke with my gunsmith yesterday regarding a repair and he stated that none of his British suppliers will ship to the US because of the tariffs. The repair was a new firing pin for a Green Martini- Henry trap gun.

I'd prefer we not turn this is into a long political thread regarding the tariff's. Just trying to give everyone a heads up.


The firing pin is for a Greener Martini Henry trap shotgun. Do a google search, there is a lot more than than a conventional firing pin.

The gun has no real historical or sentimental value so the gunsmith is going to drill out the existing firing pin and put in hardened replacement pin in the vacated hole.

Makes no sense. The tariff is put on to the end user. So the exporter/UK sell doe not collect the tariffs. I think that if thats all your gunsmith is ordering I believe the sell does not want to mess with a small order.


JOhn
Arrieta

John,
I'm afraid you are incorrect. I have exported several guns to the USA since the tariffs were introduced and the tariff was collected by the Customs on entry. I may pass the cost on to my client but the tariff money was actually collected by the customs. Likewise, when I posted some accessories to the US recently, I got the bill before the items were shipped out of the country and had to get it back from the client.

If I'm not being too nosy, what gunsmith do you have now that Mitch Schultz at Gunsmithing LTD. has closed, Chantry? He sure did a great job on my 21.

The current tariff on UK good exported to the U.S. is 10% of the cost of the item. Hardly a deal breaker on something like a firing pin. That's less than the cost of selling an item on GunBroker or the roughly 13.6% fee to sell a firing pin on Ebay. And it is very small potatoes compared to what we all paid to import and support 15-20 million illegals. Some folks with TDS will whine and cry and act like it is the end of the world. But in the overall scheme of things, the vast majority of us are much better off than were were a year ago. My 401-K's and IRA's are all up more than 10%. I just filled my gas tank at $2.459 per gallon, and paid $3.00/lb. for bacon and $1.99 per dozen for free range eggs. There are localities here in the U.S. that have a sales tax higher than 10%.

The tariff alone obviously isn't stopping the parts sellers in the UK from shipping. That's their decision, and we haven't heard any valid reason. Fortunately, for most guns, making and heat treating a firing pin right here in the U.S. is not rocket science for any decent machinist. Real gunsmiths do it all the time.

Tony

You said tariffs were collected by customs on entry

Sounds to me that the way you said it was our customs, upon entry

So to me that means to me upon entry to the USA
Just like any duty would also be collected at the same time

Can you clarify that

Who was actually collecting the tariff?

On another side several folks order items out of England and had them sent ups

Ups collected the tariffs from the purchaser


Please explain

John Boyd

A firing pin shouldn't be difficult to make. there are plenty of Smiths including myself that could make you a firing pin here in America

It's for a Greener Martini Henry trap shotgun. Do a google search, looks to be a lot more effort than a conventional firing pin.

The gun has no real historical or sentimental value so the gunsmith is going to drill out the existing firing pin and put in hardened replacement pin.

It seems you are saying that gunsmiths or machinists in Great Britain have some special capabilities that cannot be found here. But the option of simply replacing the broken firing pin tip sounds like a viable solution.

John,
The tariff was indeed collected by US customs so I had to pay the tariff etc to the person handling the import for me and he settled it all. I included the tariff in the invoice total to my customer and was refunded. This wasn't a problem as a customs broker was being used and the administration fees were know in advance so I could invoice my customer for the full cost of the import.
Shortly after the $800 limit was scrapped on postal imports, I had an order for some very unique accessories that I make and I sent them out, using one of the few courier systems that will even touch small value items to the USA. All was well until they invoiced me for the 'tariff' which was significantly more than the 10% figure my customer expected. On questioning this, we were assured that the figure was set by the local US import customs team, not the courier firm. I had no option but to pay up and ask my customer to refund me. This he did but under protest.
I made a decision at that time not to send any more items out to the USA unless of sufficient value to justify a customs broker.
I think that is the reason that the OP is finding that UK firms aren't interested in sending out any item under $1000's value. It is simply too much like hard work.