Sweetwater Sold To Private Equity Company

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museoh
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Re: Sweetwater Sold To Private Equity Company

Post by museoh »

MJKlein wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:57 pm Research brokers and what they do.
What I have read, they navigate the maze of HS codes and file necessary paperwork for clearing shipments with customs. As far as I could tell, the HS codes for an audio mixer made in China would carry a 25% tariff. So then the price of the item + shipping + tariff puts the total just slightly below buying the same from a big U.S. retailer. But also, Behringer doesn't seem to honor warranty claims in a country other than the original country of purchase. If warranty service were needed it would be a hassle, long shipping time, and shipping cost to send it back to Europe and then a tariff may be charged to get it back. So it seems a no go.
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MJKlein
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Re: Sweetwater Sold To Private Equity Company

Post by MJKlein »

Hi @museoh,

A good broker can find a way to either reclassify your import, or to apply an HS code that results in a lower duty. This is all done legally and through creative thinking. Often, how something is classified depends on the end use just as much (or more?) as it's composition. For example, if you wanted to import chrome-moly tubing, that has a classification and a duty. But, for US imports, all "steel parts of a bicycle frame" come under another HS code, and those parts are duty free. We make bicycle parts too, and our customers never pay any tariff because we classify them under the bicycle frame parts HS code. In the 70s and 80s, the Japanese got away with murder because US Customs allowed them to import under one code and then reclassify once they landed. All perfectly legal. Their brokers paid for themselves over and over.

We have a broker and one time she saved my skin on an incoming shipment.

Looking at your audio mixer example, there are probably a dozen HS codes that a mixer could apply to. One of the current issues is the fact that there are sanctions against China. Getting around those issues is another story, and is not recommended. However, if the mixer were to be used in some end installation, it might be able to be imported under another HS code. What matters is that the HS Code assignment is accepted by the Customs officials at the port. Customs officials aren't typically all that well versed in the code system and they rely on the fact that brokers are bonded, licensed and vetted professionals.

As for Behringer and it's warranty claims, that lies in the purview of an attorney, unfortunately.

That being said, there is no way that a repaired mixer could be legally classified as new. I've bought used stuff and had it shipped to Taiwan. Sometimes, there hasn't been a duty, and other times it has. One thing that I have learned is that the postal services of the world seem to be able to allow things into the country without duty, more often than the other carriers. If you send off a piece of equipment for repair, it's supposed to not be levied a duty like a new one.
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museoh
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Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2021 6:10 pm

Re: Sweetwater Sold To Private Equity Company

Post by museoh »

MJKlein wrote: Wed Dec 01, 2021 4:01 am A good broker can find a way to either reclassify your import, or to apply an HS code that results in a lower duty.
The real problem here is that the U.S. has a 25% tariff on made in China goods that have a value over $800. Neither manufacturers or consumers benefit from this. And who knows what gov is doing with all that tariff money. Not to mention that big business and the U.S. gov pushed for moving manufacturing to China in the first place, where U.S. workers definitely didn't want that happening. And now we're paying for tariffs for it on top of major job loss in the U.S. with no signs of manufacturing coming back.
Last edited by museoh on Fri Dec 03, 2021 4:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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MJKlein
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Re: Sweetwater Sold To Private Equity Company

Post by MJKlein »

It almost looks like the Powers That Be are trying to destroy the USA.
湖口鄉新竹縣台灣 Hukou Township, Hsinchu County, Taiwan
Behringer X32/Dante + Soundcraft Ghost + X32ReaperAutoMate
English/中文
This site is hosted at Dathorn: https://dathorn.com/index.php?r=489
https://www.youtube.com/@phoenixmediaforge
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