Buying new Winston 400Ah cells in Florida

[s/v Jedi]

We are about to go ahead and order 8 of these cells from Julia Yu as I’m sure more of you have done. The quote I got was more shipping due to Coronavirus crisis but my questions are around the UPS shipping process and Customs duties, tariffs etc.

We have a shipping address in Florida but we are a visiting Dutch flagged boat with valid Federal Cruising Permit. I think that makes us a valid Yacht in Transit tax exempt status.

How does this work? The info I got from Julia is that UPS will contact the buyer about picking up the cells (so they don’t deliver at address like usual?) and paying customs duty.
I assume the shipment must be marked as for Yacht in Transit with cruising permit included with bill of lading etc.?

[kmacdonald]

The first $2000 is exempt from import duty AFAIK. After that it's 5%. May vary for different countries. Where are they coming from?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

The first $2000 is exempt from import duty AFAIK. After that it's 5%. May vary for different countries. Where are they coming from?

China, with UPS air freight.

[ewishki]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

China, with UPS air freight.

Might get hit with Trump import tax (not meant to be political, just not sure what else to call it). We have had problems over the past month with getting hit on it again as stuff is coming in from China.

[tanglewood]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

China, with UPS air freight.

Interesting. How are they shipping via air? I thought they could only go via ground, assuming the rules are being followed.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by tanglewood

Interesting. How are they shipping via air? I thought they could only go via ground, assuming the rules are being followed.

Lithium cobalt... this is lifepo4

[kmacdonald]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Lithium cobalt... this is lifepo4

I think all lithium chemistry are banned as freight on passenger airlines. Freight airlines are different. Passenger airlines carry a lot of freight also.