Hi Tom,
I will be traveling from Hungary to the U.S. tomorrow via KLM. I will
be transporting a HG (that's been in the U.S. for some time but which
I took to get repaired) and a new Hungarian bagpipe. Given the fact
that I'm going to be traveling with a large cardboard box with a HG in
it, I figured I'm more than likely to get stopped by customs just
because I'm obviously transporting *something*. So I have drawn up a
detailed list of everything I acquired in Hungary, including an
estimate of the value of the repair (something I did *not* pay for) so
I can hand it to the customs people as an up-front declaration. Since
the bagpipe, unlike most instrument, is not dutiable (a concession to
Scottish-American interests perhaps?), the rest of what I have falls
below the $800 personal deduction and I should be fine. My only worry
is that they won't believe the HG was already in the U.S. (I only
found out later that I could have requested a certificate saying it
was there), but I'm hoping the fact that it will come in a shipping
container with UPS labels with my U.S. address and other markings
clearly indicating a U.S. presence should take care of any questions.
If it doesn't, I wanted to know the exact customs duty that would be
due on it so that they couldn't charge me the default rate for non-
listed items (as high as 10%!).
The first time I brought a HG to the U.S. (about ten years ago) I
truthfully declared the value and the customs guy had time on his
hands, so he whipped out his book and looked through it. He finally
said that there was some sort of deal regarding folk art coming from
former Soviet countries and that if I could tell him the instrument
(which was beautifully painted on the keybox) was folk art, there
would be no duty. I saw no reason not to say so (it certainly was
true, regardless of its musical function), so off I went without
paying anything. The current customs schedule doesn't appear to have
this exception, but the exclusion on bagpipes should be enough for me.
-Arle
