Hello Roger:
I'm surprised your item came in duty free through FEDEX. What was the amount of your order? My order arrived Wednesday from MSL for a little over $1,400.00 and I was automatically charged $195.00 for duty and FEDEX broker fees. An order last week from another German dealer was under $800.00 and was shipped through standard Deutsche Post/US Postal system with no duty or fees due.
Thank you, Paul

Dear Sirs:

As a Canadian customer of Märklin model trains, I am contacting you in regards to the tariffs being imposed by the US Government on goods originating in select countries. Most, if not all, of the Canadian dealers order their stock through Marklin USA.
As goods being exported from Göppingen to Marklin USA will be subject to tariffs on import, this has resulted in an increase of the dealer cost that dealers pay Marklin USA on delivery. This includes the Canadian dealers, meaning that our orders will now include US tariffs, when we as Canadians, should not be affected by any tariffs from a third country.

I have been trying to examine the possible alternatives. The first would be to allow Canadian dealers to have their orders shipped directly from factory. Ordering and Invoicing could still be handled via Marklin USA and as the items never enter the USA, they would avoid the tariffs. It may also be cheaper to set up a Canadian distribution who could receive all goods destined to Canadian dealers and forward their orders within Canada, meaning that the factory would have to send out one shipment rather than dozens.

It may also be a significant issue for Canadian dealers shipping to US clients, as orders through the present system will include the applicable tariffs, orders then reshipped from Canadian dealers may be subject to the US tariffs again on reimport, as it is not clear how the tariffs will be marked and whether the US Agencies will be aware that tariffs have already be acquitted on that good.

I realize that the current situation will be aggravating to all modellers affected, but it is specifically unfair for those who should not be involved to have to pay these additional fees.

Respectfully yours,

This is why I gave Modellbahn Lippe a miss because they send their stuff with Fedex and you have to pay import duty and broker fees, plus the postage is much cheaper from Modellbahn Union and you've got an option which transport company you wish to choose (Deutsche Post).

John

Hello John,

Like you, I was aggrieved at Lippe’s use of FedEx for a number of reasons (the prime being that having accepted a parcel addressed to a post office box, FedEx then refused to deliver to a P.O. Box when it reached here.)

I discussed this with Lippe and they advised me just to stipulate in my order that I wanted delivery by DHL and this has since worked well.

Regards,

Philip