Originally Posted by gregorygrady
I think your biggest problem will be customs. Rumor has is that you can bring back one pirate type of each item (ie, one purse, one watch, one DVD, etc). But I'm not sure if that's an FT rumor or what. There was a thread going around here awhile back about what is okay to bring back. I normally bring back ~75 DVDs, 5 purses, 5 watches, and a few pairs of jeans, ties, shoes, and sunglasses. FWIW, I try to distribute my knockoffs into my 3 separate checked bags and even some small stuff into my carryon so Customs doesn't open one bag and see all of the above in it. They have checked my bags 2 or 3 out of the 4 or 5 times I've returned from China, but the only thing they ever confiscated was an apple (yeah, the fruit) that I forgot I had in my bag. So who knows.......but I surely wouldn't claim the stuff and pay duty on it, that's just asking for it!!!
This isn't offered as legal advice, just commentary.
The U.S. Customs website has some information on this. I recall seeing the, "one knock-off for personal use in each category" rule there. I'd also observe that, when I bring this stuff back, I
always declare it. Of course, I don't say, "1 Knock-off DVD," but rather something like, "videos and music CDs," and declare the purchase price (I also usually have purchased some genuine goods in this category). The reason for this is that failure to declare a purchase is, in itself, a violation of law and can result in some rather stiff penalties. Particularly, if you're bringing in 75 counterfeit DVDs and don't declare them, you may be running the risk of being deemed a smuggler of contraband, which can have very serious repercussions.
YMMV, but I always declare everything I bought, genuine or not, even to the point of preparing an Excel spread sheet print-out that lists the items (generally described as above), their cost in local currency, the equivalent value in U.S. dollars and the exchange rate that I applied. Since I started doing this about 10 years ago, I've never had my bags inspected, and the Customs officers have been exceptionally appreciative and cooperative (and usually amused), e.g. going through my list to exclude all the non-dutiable articles and even simply waiving any duty that would otherwise be required.
My feeling is that, given the particular political climate, it doesn't make sense to try to put one over on customs, when it's only a couple of dollars of duty (frequently waived) that's at stake.