Yamamoto-san,
I am not certain, but I think this customs 'free treatment' and other customs
duty
policy varies from port of entry to port of entry locations (which state),
although
they are part of U.S. Customs Agency.
I know that there are differences between New York (JFK) and San Francisco(SFO)
on allowable liquors that can be brought in without duties for non-commercial
use.
There may be different policies on exempt amount among port of entries in the
States.
Here in DFW, the Customs seems to have keener eyes for illegal substances rather
than personal use photo equipments.
Jim Terazawa
Tomoko Yamamoto wrote:
> I have to make a confession. I have expanded my photo gear in the medium
> format.
>
> While in Tokyo, I purchased a used Mamiya 6 with two lenses. One came with the
> body and the other is a telephoto I purchased separately.
>
> The Mamiya 6 is a rangefinder and it only has a total of three lenses. I have
> had the standard and the telephoto. The third is the wide angle 50mm which I
> received today from Japan.
> This also is a used lens I purchased from the store where I purchased the body
> and the standard lens and had my brother pick up the lens and mail it to me by
> the International Express Mail Service with proper insurance.
>
> The US Customs opened the package and passed it free. The purchase price of
> the
> lens was 52,000yen, which is roughly $433. I understand that in the US a
> person
> can receive automatically any goods up to $100 per day customs free from
> overseas.
>
> Does anyone have an explanation for this customs free treatment? Is it
> because
> the lens is used? My brother did not identify the lens as used, but while the
> lens looks really good overall, it has a few brassing marks on the metal rim
> above the mounting ring, which makes it obvious to the inspector that it is a
> used lens.
>
> Perhaps there are others who can tell us about their experience with the
> US/other countries Customs with respect to photo equipment.
>
> Tomoko Yamamoto
> mailto:tomokoy@xxxxxxxxx
> http://www.charm.net/~tomokoy/
>
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