----- Original Message ----- From: Paul F. Stregevsky Subject: Re: Pentax Program Plus
> I thought the whole idea of NAFTA--the North American Free Trading > Zone--was to do away with nonsense like tariffs for any commerce between > Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. What gives? Are used goods still liable? NAFTA was designed to allow free movement of goods between the borders of the signatory countries. The simple fact is, it isn't working because of protectionist policies of the US Department of Commerce that put rather onerous duties on products coming into the USA, in contravention of the NAFTA agreement. In the situation at hand, the Canadian customs people refused to believe that an article being shipped into the country was a gift (not unreasonable) and applied a tarrif. Add to the UPS charges which are always a ripoff when they trans border ship, and the fellow got dinged. GST is charged on any transaction in Canada, they seem to apply provincial sales taxes first, and make the buyer go after a rebate later, which I find a bit disgusting. However, it had nothing to do with NAFTA. What James got dinged for was because the sender didn't follow instructions, and lied on a customs declaration. An expensive lesson, to be sure. William Robb - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .