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Comment by daveguy | Hacker News Reader

*Up to $4,275 in the United States depending on who eats the tariff -- you or the US company who imports the monitor.

For bulk imports, the wholesale price is lower, so you may only have to pay up to 2.25x wholesale.

At that sort of tariff, you'll see a lot of people dabbling in tariff evasion by smuggling stuff in their luggage (whether they realize it or not). If you pull it out of the packaging and just put it in your checked-in baggage, I doubt US Customs would know what it was or that you didn't bring it with you. "I'm a digital nomad, so I like to bring a lightweight monitor to work on."

Pay in cash + unbox + remove tags + post the receipts to yourself.

> post the receipts to yourself

Why?

Customs bag search, they will put 2 + 2 together - proof of purchase and item in bag and you will be paying import taxes.

why do you need the receipt at all though?

This is very common in countries like Brazil that have extremely high tariffs.

People fly to Miami to buy a MacBook and iPhone and take it back in their luggage because even with the cost of the flight and hotel, it's cheaper than buying it locally. Just get rid of the packaging and put some apps and files on them so they don't look new.

The ability to enforce the law selectively is one I wouldn’t give any police in the next few years. They can overlook it and let you pass, or they can hold you for tariff evasion and ruin your day.

Sure, but that’s equally true for your laptop or phone or underwear that you legit did take with you. Selective enforcement is already a thing and it depends more on who you are than what’s in your luggage.

At least they didn’t use to deport people to El Salvador by mistake…

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