And I'll say it again. Car parts (as well as everything else in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule) has duty rate based on what the item is, where it's made, and where it's purchased. Car parts and complete cars have different HTS numbers. Some may be no duty and others really high. That being said, sounds like he got someone who didn't bother to collect duty since the importer knows they weren't made it the US or Canada. That could have been for several reasons, but glad that he didn't have any issues.