" Almost 50% of our Cost of Goods for the import stuff is tied up in import duties/fees/shipping/brokerage and so on."
Dieselgman
That's a fact. I have imported a 6/1 from Europe and a truck from Japan. Final cost in both instances was about double (or more) than the original cost of the item.
In the case of the truck, it was still a very good deal IMHO. The 6/1 got caught in a container fumigation kerfuffle and it cost me a lot......not including the usual agents, brokers, duties, taxes, etc.
Beware, and line up your ducks before a purchase.
BTW, I;m in Canada, so we are able to import these engines legally......still, the shipping/import costs are a killer.
Cheers,
Hugh