An update: The Plot Thickens.
The latest news is that Aduanas has announced they will permit the importation of used appliances and clothing into the country, but they will be taxed as new.
However, any container with more than 8 appliances will have the excess confiscated. Yes, confiscated. That's the word...so far. (However, we were told our shipper would make damn sure william webster and our stoves are not confiscated, as they do not want to have to reimburse us the cost plus shipping/taxes.)
The numbers shake down like this: over 200 containers from US shippers arrive EACH DAY to DR ports. The ports need the shippers to open the containers, pay taxes and get the containers our ASAP to keep the work flow consistent.
The shippers are going on a 3-day strike, so in addition to the containers already on the ground in protest, 600 more will be arriving the next several days. That's a LOT of containers stacking up. There is a reason the port charges escalate quickly after you are informed to come pick your stuff up: the port needs the space and needs to keep the process moving.
There is supposedly a meeting scheduled for Friday with adaunas to negotiate some sort of settlement, but in the meantime appliances and used clothing are not getting into the country because the mudanzas are not picking up containers at the ports as protest.
What makes me crazy is how a new policy is enforced retroactively, which is completely different from informing shippers that "after a such and such date..."
Soooo...in our case, no new stove for a while. Bummer.
If you receive items in barrels or appliances from a mudanza and have connections to the media or elected politicians, you may want to make a statement of concern or protest. We will do our part.
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I smell shenanigans from appliance outlets, particularly the high-end dealers like Corripio and Lama.
Our shipper "averages" 15 appliances per shipment, twice a week. Assuming his numbers are the same as other shippers, and shippers send 200 containers per week, that means roughly 3000 appliances come into the country...PER WEEK. Even if that number is overestimated, it represents an extraordinary number of potential missed sales from appliance dealers. The appliance dealers have a HUGE dog in this fight.
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