Previously (see link), I posted on recent customs duties on coins that were part of Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That tariff expired July 24. However, it was renewed immediately under Section 301. 60 countries are covered including the EU. Tariffs range from 10 to 12.5%. I have not yet been able to find out if coins are excluded. Exclusion list should be available soon. If there is a means of exclusion, it will depend on shippers putting the correct HTS (Harmonized Tariff Schedule) code on the invoice. Even then, duty or no duty on individual shipments may depend on the particular customs officer looking at the invoice. Meanwhile, if you order coins from outside the U.S., don’t be surprised if duty is tacked-on. If you don’t have an account with the carrier (FedEx, DHL, etc.), the shipment may be held until duty is paid. There may be a service charge by the carrier on top of the duty charge. Mike https://www.cointalk.com/threads/custom-duties-on-coins-…-a-minefield.423071/
I buy coins quite often from overseas...mostly from the UK or Ireland...and haven't had to pay any fees or tariffs. Bruce
The new tariffs started in Feb 2026, so oversea orders before then usually weren’t charged custom duties. With the new tariffs, best chance to avoid tariffs is if the sender puts down the HTS code for informational items rather than for coins. If you’ve ordered coins since the new tariffs were implemented and weren’t charged duty, you were probably lucky unless the correct HTS code was on the invoice. If customs officials are busy and the coin is relatively cheap, it might slide through untaxed. I’ve ordered one coin from overseas since Feb 2026, and got nailed with a 10% tax. Mike
I hope you're successful. An appeal to FedEx is just passed on to U.S. Customs unless FedEx made a clerical error. I've been told that U.S. Customs may charge a "processing" fee whether an appeal is successful or not. I decided it wasn't worth it to appeal the duty I was charged. Mike
I'll have to log into delivery manager over the weekend to see if my tariff email is a legitimate one (the email had no real information other than the order #). It would have been on an order received in early June. Before, even when I didn't owe anything, I would also get a paper copy. A tariff of c. $36 on a c. $200 order would balloon the effective shipping to around $70. I don't think Aaron Berk has addressed tariffs since the old ones were stuck down, but the old ones on ancient coins were bogus. I believe itwas on discord where examples were given where Fedex often just tacks on tariffs no matter what, not looking at the paperwork, often citing a code which has nothing whatsovever to do with the coins. I'm pretty much done with ordering coins from Europe, unless it's something I really have to have, especially if it's not sent via the post. I am not 100% sure whether to contest it or not, even though the tariff is probably unjust. I was already entering another hiatus from buying coins; this just makes it even easier. I might buy something for my birthday, but I think I'm going to slow down otherwise.
