Thanks to everyone who offered advice and recommendations about re-importing equipment to the US from Canada. What follows is our experience and does not represent advice or recommendations from the RICM.
We sent an email to DHS asking about the re-importing procedure and what paperwork we would need, but never received a reply. I called the customs office in Highgate Springs, VT where we planned to re-enter the US. The customs officer said that they were most concerned about proof of ownership. I asked about not paying any duty because everything we brought back was of US manufacture. The officer said that even though it was made in the US if it was purchased in Canada you still might owe duty when bringing it back to the US. The RICM has an accession form that all donors sign that deeds the equipment to the RICM. We added a list of the donated equipment, including serial numbers, to the accession document. Just in case, we made a pro-forma (commercial) invoice listing the equipment and an estimated value. We also found a Form 3311, DECLARATION FOR FREE ENTRY OF RETURNED AMERICAN PRODUCTS. We filled that out even though it is most likely only used for getting items back into the US that were sent out for repair. The customs officer asked if we purchased the equipment, and if it was for or personal use. Since the equipment was donated we didn't buy it, and since it was going into the museum's collection it was not for our personal use. He seemed satisfied and within a few minutes we were on our way home. The most interesting item that we brought back was an ECRM model 5902 document scanner from 1977 that is powered by a PDP-8/m. It looks like we have all of the documentation for it, including the software on paper tape. We will post pictures of it on our WWW page in a day or so. Thanks again for everyone's help with this project. > On Mon, Jul 31, 2017 at 8:15 PM, Michael Thompson < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > The RICM has an opportunity to get a PDP-8/M (built in Maynard, MA) that > is in Canada. I remember that there was a discussion on the procedure here, > but I can't find it with Google. > > > > Can you either point me to the discussion, or tell me what the procedure > is? > > -- > Michael Thompson > -- Michael Thompson
