Months ago I purchased an Edgerton KT Special from a collector in
Canada.  It's a fun piano, and I've had great fun playing G rolls
that I hadn't been able to play before.

But recently, the shipping company contacted me and requested that
I send them $1200.00 for U.S. import duty.  I'm no lawyer, but
I thought that under 9801.00.10 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of
the United States (2006) Supplement 1 (rev 2), manufactured goods made
in the USA, shipped overseas (and not improved by any means while in
the foreign country) was generally duty-free if re-introduced into
the United States.

This may be true, but it also seems that Customs is skeptical about
the country of origin of the piano.  I forwarded an original invoice
from Mr. Edgerton's company from the original sale of the piano, as
well as correspondence describing the progress of construction, but
Customs wants a letter, on company letterhead, from the manufacturer.

Has anyone had any experiences with U.S. Customs that might be helpful?

Thanks,
Steve Cobb
stevecobb@xemaps.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]