20% duties is beyond insane, I export stuff to Europe, Asia, Africa and pretty much nobody has duties that high unless its a product the country produces on a massive scale kind of like importing electronics into Asia or Cars into Germany. Sad
I've written this many times.
It's not duty - if it were duty that would be on TOP of the fees already present.
The fees we pay on import:
- customs brokerage
- provincial tax
- federal tax (or combined, harmonized tax)
- duty
"Brokerage" is the biggest wildcard that we can control by carefully choosing the shipping method. UPS has the highest charges out there. Postal service (i.e. USPS from the US) has the lowest ($5 flat, $8 for EMS). Most couriers offer shipping tiers that include brokerage in the shipping charges as well. It removes the "surprise" and lets you get your package faster but it's still not as cheap as the postal service.
Customs can legally collect taxes (13% harmonized in my area) on any non-gift package valued over $19.99 and any gift package valued over $49.99. It's selectively enforced and sometimes you get lucky. I haven't had anything over $25 come through in the clear from the US, but my Filco tenkeyless came through with no extra charges from PCHome. Go figure.
Duty is charged on top of all of this, if it applies, which it usually doesn't.