On 30/06/09 07:59, John Edwards wrote:
The courier will likely charge you less than a customs broker will for a single item - the brokers are mainly used for large transactions. While you're legally entitled to bring this equipment in carry-on luggage, proving and authenticating your right can be a costly and timely exercise.
The other problem is that an import implies a change of ownership from an overseas company to a US company. Setting up a US holding company to "own" your "imported" US assets is a major pain and best avoided where possible. Especially as that company may be a a "foreign telecommunications carrier" and the US has rather wonderful laws covering those. I've done a lot of Australia-US import/export, and I'd very much suggest building a good relationship with a customs broker. That's hardly an expense you want for two switches, so buying the switches in the US (where they come with a valid warranty and correct power leads) is a good idea. I wouldn't recommend importing the switches through your luggage. The few times I've tried that arranging all of the documentation prior to travel has really sucked. As a trivial example of what can go wrong, if you unknowingly choose an airport where customs works 9am-5pm and your flight arrives at 2am, then you've got a rather long wait in the walkway between Immigration and Customs. So long a wait that you're likely to encounter some other difficulty from the airport authorities. -- Glen Turner <http://www.gdt.id.au/~gdt/>
