Taxes & Customs
1. Purpose and Scope
The present Cross-Border Duties, Taxes & Customs Policy ("Policy") governs the obligations of Buyers and Sellers in respect of every transaction concluded through the Tuners Vault Auction Marketplace platform, located at tunersvault.com ("Tuners Vault," the "Platform," or the "Site"), where the item purchased moves between customs territories. Tuners Vault is owned and operated from the Province of Ontario, Canada, and serves Users worldwide.
The Policy is incorporated by reference into the Terms of Service, the User Agreement, the Buyer Agreement, the Seller Agreement, and the Settlement Agreement and Policy, and must be read together with each of them. Where a conflict arises between the present Policy and another Platform document on the specific subject matter of customs, duties, tariffs, import taxes, or export compliance, the provisions of this Policy shall prevail.
Nothing in the Policy constitutes customs, tariff, tax, or legal advice. Classification, valuation, origin, admissibility, and the rate of duty applicable to a given component are determined by the customs authority of the importing country on the facts of the individual shipment. Users who require certainty on any of those points should obtain a binding ruling from the competent authority or retain a licensed customs broker.
2. Platform Role in Cross-Border Transactions
Tuners Vault is not an importer, an exporter, a customs broker, a freight forwarder, a carrier, or a declarant. The Platform does not classify goods, does not determine the value for duty of any item, does not certify origin, does not prepare or lodge customs declarations, does not collect or remit duties or import taxes, and does not act as a merchant of record for any transaction. Tuners Vault operates no landed-cost calculator and makes no representation, at the point of listing, bidding, or settlement, as to the duties, tariffs, surtaxes, or import taxes that a shipment will attract.
Responsibility for export compliance rests with the Seller, and responsibility for importation rests with the Buyer, in each case as set out below. Tuners Vault accepts no liability for any duty, tax, surtax, penalty, interest, storage charge, brokerage fee, seizure, forfeiture, re-export cost, or destruction cost arising in connection with a cross-border shipment, nor for any delay, inspection, refusal of entry, or administrative decision taken by a customs or regulatory authority.
3. Allocation of Responsibility
3.1 Buyer as Importer of Record
Unless the Seller and the Buyer have expressly agreed otherwise in writing before payment, the Buyer is the importer of record for every cross-border shipment and bears every charge and obligation attaching to importation. Those charges include customs duties; surtaxes and other trade-remedy measures; goods and services tax, harmonized sales tax, value-added tax, provincial sales tax, and equivalent consumption taxes levied on importation; excise duties where applicable; customs brokerage and entry-preparation fees; carrier disbursement, advancement, and handling fees; inspection, examination, and detention charges; storage and demurrage; and any penalty or interest assessed on the entry.
The Buyer is further responsible for satisfying every admissibility requirement of the destination jurisdiction, including emissions, safety, labelling, certification, and permit requirements, and for obtaining any licence or authorization that importation of the component requires. Where a component is inadmissible, the Buyer bears the cost of re-export, abandonment, or destruction, and Tuners Vault bears none of it.
3.2 Seller as Exporter
The Seller is responsible for lawful export from the country of despatch. The Seller must prepare accurate customs documentation, including a true description of the component, a truthful declared value, the correct tariff classification where one is required, and an accurate country-of-origin statement. The Seller must comply with all applicable export controls, trade sanctions, and embargoes, must not ship to a restricted destination or party, and must observe the dangerous-goods obligations set out in Section 4.7 of the Seller Agreement.
The deliberate undervaluation of a shipment to reduce duty, the description of a commercial shipment as a gift, a sample, a warranty return, or a repair item when that characterization is inaccurate, and the omission of a regulated component from a declaration are each prohibited without exception. Such conduct exposes the Buyer to seizure and penalty, exposes the Seller to prosecution, and constitutes a material breach of the Seller Agreement.
3.3 Delivered Duty Paid and Other Agreed Terms
A Seller may agree with a Buyer to ship on a delivered-duty-paid basis or on any other lawful commercial term. Any such agreement must be recorded in writing before the Buyer remits the remaining balance, must identify precisely which charges the Seller assumes, and binds only the Seller and the Buyer. Tuners Vault is not a party to it, does not verify it, does not enforce it, and assumes no obligation under it.
4. Valuation, Classification, and Origin
4.1 Value for Duty
The value declared to customs must reflect the price actually paid or payable for the component, determined in accordance with the valuation rules of the importing country. For a transaction concluded on the Platform, that price is the full hammer price or accepted fixed price, comprising both the 9.5% marketplace operations commission collected by Tuners Vault and the remaining balance paid directly to the Seller, together with any other element the importing country's valuation rules require to be added. Declaring only the balance remitted to the Seller understates the transaction value and may constitute an offence.
4.2 Tariff Classification
Automotive and motorcycle components are classified across several chapters of the Harmonized System, and the applicable rate of duty turns on the precise classification assigned. Engines, engine parts, transmissions, chassis, bodies, and general vehicle parts and accessories each attract distinct treatment, as do tyres, electrical ignition and starting equipment, electronic control units, and tools. A Seller who states a classification must hold a reasonable basis for it, and a Buyer who relies on a classification stated by a Seller remains responsible for the accuracy of the entry lodged in the Buyer's name.
4.3 Origin and Preferential Treatment
The country of origin of a component is determined by the origin rules of the importing country and is not necessarily the country from which the component is shipped. A component manufactured in one country, fitted to a vehicle assembled in a second, and removed and sold from a third does not acquire the origin of the country of despatch. Where a Buyer wishes to claim preferential tariff treatment under a trade agreement, including the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, the claim must be supported by a valid certification of origin that satisfies the agreement's requirements, and the Seller must be able to substantiate the statement made. Neither Tuners Vault nor the Platform issues, verifies, or retains certifications of origin.
5. Trade Measures Affecting Automotive Components
Automotive goods are among the most heavily and most frequently regulated categories in international trade, and the measures applicable to them change on short notice. A component that entered a market duty-free last year may attract a substantial charge this year, and a remission or exemption in force at the time of purchase may lapse before the goods arrive. Users must verify the position applicable to the specific commodity, the specific origin, and the specific date of importation, and must not rely on the treatment obtained on an earlier shipment.
Two developments illustrate the point and are stated here because they bear directly on transactions between Canada and the United States, which represent a significant share of Platform activity. In the United States, imports of automobiles and of certain automobile parts are subject to measures imposed under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, 19 U.S.C. 1862, and the list of covered automobile parts is expanded periodically through a recurring inclusions process administered by the Department of Commerce, the window for which is opened by notice published in the Federal Register, as it was on March 24, 2026 at 91 FR 13998. In Canada, certain goods originating in the United States are subject to a surtax under the United States Surtax Order (2026), administered by the Canada Border Services Agency, which took effect on September 8, 2026 and which Customs Notice 26-23, issued at Ottawa on September 7, 2026, requires importers to declare and pay on the commercial accounting declaration. Related remission orders provide relief for defined categories of goods and are themselves amended from time to time.
Users should treat the foregoing as an indication that the tariff position must be checked afresh for every shipment, and not as a statement of the rate applicable to any particular component. The Canada Border Services Agency, United States Customs and Border Protection, and the equivalent authority in the destination country publish the current measures, and a licensed customs broker can confirm their application to a given entry.
6. Low-Value Shipments and the Absence of De Minimis Relief
Users should not assume that a low-value shipment enters free of duty or free of formality. Following interim final rules published by United States Customs and Border Protection on June 24, 2026, the administrative de minimis exemption for imports valued at USD 800 or less is indefinitely suspended. Under 91 FR 37789, effective June 24, 2026, all entries of merchandise valued at USD 800 or less arriving through modes other than the international postal network must use formal or informal entry procedures. Under 91 FR 37801, effective July 24, 2026, the suspension extends to mail shipments, which are subject to a new postal informal entry process.
The practical consequence for Users is that a small, inexpensive component shipped into the United States now attracts entry formalities, brokerage charges, and duty that would previously have been waived, and that the total landed cost of such a shipment may be disproportionate to the price of the component. Buyers should establish the landed cost before bidding, and Sellers should not represent that a shipment will clear without charge. Other jurisdictions apply their own low-value thresholds, which differ from the United States position and which are themselves subject to change.
7. Regulated and Restricted Components in Cross-Border Trade
Admissibility is a separate question from duty, and a component on which duty has been paid may still be refused entry. Emission-related components, including catalytic converters, particulate filters, oxygen sensors, and engine control units, must satisfy the emission requirements of the importing country, and a component that bypasses, defeats, or renders inoperative an emission control device may be refused entry, seized, or made the subject of enforcement action. In the United States, section 203 (a) (3) of the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. 7522 (a) (3), prohibits the manufacture, sale, offer for sale, and installation of such devices, and in Canada the On-Road Vehicle and Engine Emission Regulations, SOR/2003-2, made under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, impose comparable restrictions.
Safety-related equipment may be regulated as prescribed equipment under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, S.C. 1993, c. 16, and its equivalents abroad. Dangerous goods, including airbag modules, airbag inflators, seat-belt pretensioners, lithium-ion and lithium-metal battery packs, compressed-gas cylinders, and components containing residual fuel or other regulated fluids, are subject to the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992, S.C. 1992, c. 34, and the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations, SOR/2001-286, in Canada, and to the equivalent rules of every jurisdiction through which the shipment passes. Components subject to an outstanding safety recall, and components bearing an altered or obliterated identification number, may be refused entry or seized.
Responsibility for establishing that a component may lawfully leave the country of despatch rests with the Seller, and responsibility for establishing that it may lawfully enter the destination country rests with the Buyer. Where either party is uncertain, the enquiry should be made before the listing closes rather than after the component has been tendered to a carrier.
8. Carrier Disbursement, Brokerage, and Collection on Delivery
Express carriers and postal operators customarily advance duty and import tax on the importer's behalf and recover the advance, together with a disbursement or advancement fee, before releasing the shipment. Those fees are levied by the carrier under its own tariff, are additional to the duty and tax themselves, and are the Buyer's responsibility. A refusal to pay charges presented on delivery commonly results in the shipment being returned or abandoned, and the Buyer remains liable to the Seller for the price in accordance with the Buyer Agreement notwithstanding that refusal.
Where a Buyer prefers to use its own customs broker, the Buyer should arrange that appointment and notify the Seller before despatch so that the shipment can be routed accordingly. Tuners Vault neither appoints nor recommends brokers and takes no part in the arrangement.
9. Refused, Returned, and Abandoned Shipments
Where a shipment is refused at the border, refused on delivery, held for charges that the Buyer does not pay, or abandoned, the costs of return, storage, re-export, or destruction fall on the party that applicable law and the carrier's terms place them on, and as between Buyer and Seller they fall on the Buyer unless the Seller has expressly agreed otherwise in writing. Tuners Vault does not reimburse, offset, or mediate such costs, and the 9.5% marketplace operations commission is not refundable by reason of a customs refusal, a seizure, an unexpected charge, or an abandonment.
10. Record Keeping
Customs authorities require importers and exporters to retain records supporting entries and exports for periods that commonly extend to several years. Buyers should retain the settlement invoice, proof of payment to the Seller, the customs entry, and any origin certification. Sellers should retain the listing, the settlement invoice, export documentation, and any dangerous-goods paperwork. Tuners Vault retains transaction records in accordance with the retention periods stated in the Privacy Policy, but does not retain customs documentation on behalf of any User and cannot reconstruct an entry after the event.
11. Taxes Other Than Import Taxes
The present Policy addresses charges arising on importation. It does not address the income tax, business tax, or sales tax consequences of buying or selling through the Platform, which are governed by the Buyer Agreement and the Seller Agreement and which remain the sole responsibility of the User concerned. Tuners Vault does not provide tax advice and makes no representation regarding the tax consequences of any transaction.
12. Changes to This Policy
Tuners Vault may update the present Policy from time to time to reflect changes in applicable law, regulatory guidance, or Platform practice. When material changes are made, the "Last Updated" date at the top of this document will be revised, and where required by applicable law, Users will be notified through reasonable means. Continued use of the Platform following publication of any amendment constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.
13. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution
The present Policy shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. The dispute resolution and arbitration provisions set forth in the Terms of Service apply in full to this Policy, subject to the mandatory statutory rights preserved in those provisions.
14. Contact Information
For any questions or formal notices regarding the present Policy, please contact Tuners Vault by email at info@tunersvault.com or through the website at https://tunersvault.com.
15. Acknowledgement
By placing a bid, completing a purchase, or listing an item for sale on the Platform, you confirm that you have read this Cross-Border Duties, Taxes & Customs Policy in its entirety, that you understand the allocation of responsibility it establishes between Buyers, Sellers, and Tuners Vault, and that you voluntarily agree to be bound by its terms.
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