Importing Diamond / Jewelry to US from Singapore - Tarifs?

[CutMonkey]

Spinning off a new topic from the JP Customer Service thread at the suggestion of @munchee.

Does anyone know if there are import tarifs / duties when importing:

1) loose diamonds (finished, not rough), and/or
2) Rings with precious metals (gold/silver/platinum) and/or diamonds to the U.S. from Singapore?? If anyone has done this recently, I'd love for you to share your experience.

From a cursory Google search, it appears that there is a Singapore-United States Free Trade Agreement, which, as far as I can tell, eliminates virtually all tarifs on imports/exports in either direction. Does anyone know whether this is true.

I did ask JP about this when I contact them previously, and their initial reply was that in their experience, customs duties were around 5%. I have reached out to them to ask if this is also true for loose diamonds, rather than finished rings, and am waiting to hear their response.

Given the free-trade agreement, it seems like potentially their shouldn't be any tarifs at all though. I would love to jear directly from anyone with first hand experience or expertise in this subject.

 

[CutMonkey]

When COVID is over we could go to Singapore and pick one up

I'm also curious whether this is a legitimate way to avoid import taxes as well, in a post-COVID world. Don't you still have to declare purchases made abroad on the customs form when returning to the US?

 

[maryjane04]

I'm also curious whether this is a legitimate way to avoid import taxes as well, in a post-COVID world. Don't you still have to declare purchases made abroad on the customs form when returning to the US?

I don't think so? I have heard a lot of people who buy from overseas just wearing the jewellery they purchased/picking it up and making a holiday out of it to save on taxes. Although they may charge you a sales tax from the location/country of purchase. But it was just a thought.

 

[CutMonkey]

I don't think so? I have heard a lot of people who buy from overseas just wearing the jewellery they purchased/picking it up and making a holiday out of it to save on taxes. Although they may charge you a sales tax from the location/country of purchase. But it was just a thought.

Yeah, I'm curious because I had the same thought, just not sure on the details.

 

[TripEx]

There would be a threshold mosy likely and "legally" being a good citizen you "should" declare, that being said you could possibly "slip" by, by wearing it and hiding/discarding the packaging and/or reciept depending on how likely you are to be searched upon arrival.

 

[La2020]

I had to pay taxes (7%) on the loose stone which I have purchased recently from NWD (i.e. from US to Singapore). I know that there is a FTA with US, but am unsure how much you need to pay when it comes to purchasing loose diamond/jewelry from Singapore. If I am not wrong, precious metals are exempt from GST, but this is only for investable precious metals ie. gold bullion etc.

Is there an US customs website for you to find out more? I usually try to research a bit more before emailing the custom officers.

Not sure if this link is helpful or not but the calculation is correct for mine.

Import Duty Calculator

Calculate import duty and taxes in the web-based calculator. It's fast and free to try and covers over 100 destinations worldwide.

www.simplyduty.com