Not a lawyer -- not legal advice. You should only have to declare them at the border and pay the import duty (tax) _right there_. They take credit cards. Declare them on customs form I-74? handed out on the plane before you land.
If you try and walk or bag them through without declaring them, you could be asking for serious problems. Best, Martin On 6/29/09, Joe Abley <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 29-Jun-2009, at 10:05, Sherwin Ang wrote: > >> i'll be bringing in 2 cisco switches to one wilshire in LA to install >> those switches there. since these are small switches, 3750's, i'll be >> carrying them on the check-in luggage. I would like to get some >> information if i could be in trouble in any way with regards to >> Customs there in the US, i'll be coming from the Philippines by the >> way. >> >> insights, off list would be greatly appreciated. tnx! > > If you put metal devices in your checked baggage you should be > prepared for them to be noticed in routine x-rays as the baggage is > processed. I've found notes from TSA inside my checked bags before > confirming that someone had opened and searched my luggage, most > recently between the US and Canada. There was a Juniper SSG5 in there > (which I had declared) which I presumed caused the bag to be flagged. > > Last time I checked, there was no simple box to check on customs > paperwork for "we still own these switches, but we want to keep them > in the US rather than at home". It might well be that they need to be > processed as if you are importing them, in which case commercial > invoices confirming their value and other documentation confirming > their origin might well be required, and you might have to pay import > duty. > > If you want to avoid any unpleasant questions at the border, then the > right thing to do is probably to find out what supporting paperwork is > required to support the import of the switches into the US, bring that > paperwork with you, and declare the switches at customs. > > Alternatively ship the switches separately, and let FedEx or similar > deal with the border. You can then make the border crossing carrying > nothing but clothes and a laptop, which ought to be uncomplicated. > > More alternatively, since c3750s are not particularly exotic or > expensive, look at buying some from a cisco reseller or used network > equipment vendor within the US and have them shipped directly to 1 > Wilshire. The switches you have in the Philippines could be used for > something else. > > Note I am not a lawyer, this e-mail contains forward-looking > statements, contents may have settled in transit, etc. > > > Joe > > -- Martin Hannigan [email protected] p: +16178216079 Power, Network, and Costs Consulting for Iceland Datacenters and Occupants
