stc

So, I recently got "talked to" for not declaring 4 laptops I was carrying back for a non-profit (from an overseas convention). I was told they were commercial goods and I should have declared them. This begs the question of what constitutes "commercial goods"? If you have one company laptop does that constitute "commercial goods"? Do presentations? I had always assumed it only referred to samples or things for sale but according to at least one agent I am wrong.

freeagent

Did you buy the laptops abroad and bring them back for a company, or were you simply just carrying them
back into the US?

stc

The laptops were bought in the US (a couple of years ago) and clearly had US power supplies etc. BUT, they had been brought over by someone else earlier in the year in preparation for the convention.

freeagent

It seems to me that the CBP agent was unclear that the laptops were purchased in the US. A commercial good in the basic terms is something that is imported, as these were not imported they shouldn't have been considered commercial goods. What does make sense is that the agent saw the four newish looking computers and assumed that they were bough on your trip abroad for others use in the US which would then in fact make it a commercial good. Things start to look fishy if one person is bringing in four similarly looking laptops which might explain "the talk."

In the future to avoid confusion when carrying multiple computers it helps to bring receipts or evidence of the computer being purchased in the US, might be hard in this case with company provided computers. There are also forms on the CBP website you can fill out ahead of time.

stc

He NEVER saw them. I told him about them when he repeatedly asked if anyone had given me anything. I also told him they were bought in the USA.

GUWonder

If they are not your personal goods for personal use and are instead owned by a corporate or business entity of any sort and being imported for sale/distribution, they are more likely to be commercial goods. That is probably why you encountered what you did.

stc

So, anyone with a company laptop technically needs to declare that???

Often1

No. The definition you are working from is inexact.

"Commercial merchandise" in this context includes goods which are neither yours nor for your use. Thus, a laptop owned by your employer, but assigned to you is not "commercial merchandise." If you are transporting laptops for 3 colleagues, e.g. laptops owned by the employer but assigned to them, then the laptops are "commercial merchandise." But, those same laptops would not be "commercial merchandise" if each colleague brought his own laptop.

In this case, I suspect that there was a miscommunication. When the laptops were originally exported, they should have been registered with CBP. When reimported, there is no duty due, but the registrations should have been produced. Nothing OP could have done better because he was not the person who originally exported them. Had CBP seized them, it would have been for the employer to retrieve them.

GUWonder

No. Unless the laptops are being brought in for sale or trade or intended for sale or trade, those laptops are not treated as commercial merchandise unless perhaps they are of relatively high retail value. While occupational-related goods owned by employer may be commercial merchandise even when the goods are not intended for sale/distribution, the laptops aren’t necessarily commercial merchandise. There is a value component as well as purpose component involved IIRC for imported goods to be treated as commercial goods when the person transporting the goods is a US person.

stc

This kind of disagrees with what happened to me. The laptops are worth maybe $100 each. They were low and laptops bought about four years ago. I checked current prices on eBay.

I would also point out that I am a non-paid volunteer for the nonprofit. And if the laptops were seized the nonprofit probably just would have given up on them.

(sorry for the delay in responding. Actual paid work and family issues have kept me away from flyer talk most of the last month.)