Customs and duties in USA bringing and Amplfier from Europe

Buy USA ONLY!!

i bought a used amp for a litttle over $3k from a dealer in Cyprus. They were very experienced shipping to the US and filled out the shipping papers with correct codes to ensure no duties.  However, because the amp was so heavy, it was pulled for investigation. I was contacted and asked what it was via email.  They also asked me what the tariff codes were.  I spent some time looking them and I too concluded no tariff was owed.  I responded to the email and eventually my amp was released from customs, took a few days.  A week later I got a bill from the shipping company for about $30.  the US customs office charged them $30 for evaluating my amp and concluding no tariff was due.  They were nice enough to pay it for me to get my amp released.  I promptly paid them.

Jerry

Why go to that much trouble? There are plenty of great amps available in the US. 

@russ69 In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea. But shipping was reasonable ($350 for a 120 lb amp, it would cost that much to ship in in the US).  I had been looking for an amp for quite a while.  I need a remote and a pre-in feature.  It is surprising how few tube amps have the pre-in or HT bypass feature.  Found an Ayon on Audiogon in Cypress.  Purchase was pretty easy, shipping took a while.  I bought the 240 V amp since i have 240V at my audio location.  May be hard to sell in the US since most do not.  It is a really nice amp though. Ayon makes good sounding stuff. 

 --Jerry

Thanks to everyone, this has been very helpful in case I buy an Amplifier from Europe.

Best regards!!