there actually is a duty on stones too... its just much less than knives
Hey Jon -- which HTS code do you use on synthetic and natural stones?
I did a search of the USITC website (
http://hts.usitc.gov/) and came up with the following categories (Sorry it's hard to read -- I'm bad at pasting tables):
6804 Millstones, grindstones, grinding wheels and the like, without frameworks, for grinding, sharpening, polishing, trueing or cutting, hand sharpening or polishing stones, and parts thereof, of natural stone, of agglomerated natural or artificial abrasives,
Other millstones, grindstones, grinding wheels and the like:
6804.21.00 00 Of agglomerated synthetic or natural diamond
6804.22 Of other agglomerated abrasives or of ceramics:
6804.22.10 00 Bonded with synthetic resins
Other:
6804.22.40 00 Abrasive wheels
6804.22.60 00 Other
6804.23.00 00 Of natural stone
6804.30.00 00 Hand sharpening or polishing stones
Or you can go here:
http://hts.usitc.gov/Table 68.xml#6804. Most of the items on the list are free of a "general" duty.
I called DHL and sayd that my items fell into the last category "Hand sharpening or polishing stones" and were duty free. It's usually someone's job to match up the packing slip with the ITC categories, and assess duties if any are due. People make mistakes, especially on small tickets :biggrin: