Import Duties on Cameras

Cameras imported into the United States are subject to import dutiesfilm-camera on camera-bag image by Andrii Oleksiienko from Fotolia.com

Most commercial products imported into the United States are subject to an import tax, known as an import duty. Most import duties are based on a percentage of the value of the goods that are being imported. U.S. import tariffs, which detail the amount of duty payable on different products, are administered by the United States International Trade Commission, known as USITC, and cameras are subject to the tariffs set for photographic or cinematographic goods, as laid out in Section XVIII of the list of tariffs.

Cameras Used for Preparing Printing Plates

Cameras used for preparing lithographs and screen prints in commercial processes are generally free of import duty, meaning that no tax needs to be paid on these goods when bringing them into the United States. However, certain countries, such as Cuba and North Korea, do not enjoy normal trading relationships with this country.. Cameras used to prepare plates for the printing process, originating in these countries, are subject to a duty of 20 percent of their declared value, as set out in subheading 9006.10.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.

The most famous brand of instant print camera is Polaroid, but companies such as Fuji, in Japan, also manufacture them. Subheadings 9006.40.40 and 9006.40.60 govern the duty payable on imported instant print cameras. Those with fixed-focus lenses, meaning that the lens cannot be zoomed in and out when composing a picture, are generally free of import duty. Instant print cameras with variable focus lenses are also free of import duty, unless they have a value of less than $10, in which case a duty of 6.8 percent applies. All instant print cameras originating in countries that don't have formal trading relations with the United States are subject to a duty of 20 percent.

Single Lens Reflex cameras, or SLR's, are cameras in which the image the photographer sees in the viewfinder is the same image that comes directly through the lens. They are covered by subheading 9006.51.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. SLR cameras that use 35mm film stock, that is to say, film that comes in the form of a roll, 35mm wide, do not attract import duty when imported into the United States from countries with which it has formal trading relationships with. A 20 percent duty is charged on SLR cameras imported from countries with no formal trading relationship.