In my experience, it is completely arbitrary. I used to purchased many Burmester, Ayon and MBL preamps/dacs/amps from Europe (England / Netherlands / France / Germany). Rarely got taxed, regardless of USPS or UPS.
But for "inexpensive" stuff like Kharma low end cables, or some DIY $300 amp, USPS and UPS happily tagged on the import duties.
Funny thing is I never got taxed on stuff from Japan, Hong Kong nor Taiwan. However, 100% of the time, I got taxed on stuff from South Korea.
The rate is reasonable nevertheless, but be weary of using UPS or FedEx since they tagged on ’custom processing fee’ which is high.
But for "inexpensive" stuff like Kharma low end cables, or some DIY $300 amp, USPS and UPS happily tagged on the import duties.
Funny thing is I never got taxed on stuff from Japan, Hong Kong nor Taiwan. However, 100% of the time, I got taxed on stuff from South Korea.
The rate is reasonable nevertheless, but be weary of using UPS or FedEx since they tagged on ’custom processing fee’ which is high.