Q: Importing Furniture Purchased Abroad for Personal Use

A:If you purchased furniture while abroad and had it shipped back to the U.S., you will be required to fill out a Declaration of Unaccompanied Goods CBP 3299 in order to get your goods released. The shipping company will notify you when the goods arrive in the U.S., and unless arrangements have been made for the shipper to clear your goods through Customs and deliver them to your door, you will need to go to the Customs office located at the port of arrival to clear the goods yourself. Be sure to bring the bill of sale and lading with you. Act promptly, if your goods are not cleared within 15 days of arrival, they will be sent to a General Order warehouse, where storage fees can mount up quickly.

If you are crossing the border with furniture you purchased abroad, you will have to declare them on a Customs Declaration CBP 6059.

Our Customs Service Center will send you a copy of either one of these forms. The Customs form CBP 3299 can be downloaded from the Customs Web site. From the homepage, click on Forms.

Furniture made in countries that have normal trade relations status with the United States is usually duty free. You can reference chapter 94 in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule to obtain duty rates. From the Customs Web site homepage, click on Import, Duty Rates (on the right side).

Furniture (i.e. wooden bedroom furniture made in China) being imported for resale into the U.S. may be subject to antidumping duties. Therefore, if you intend to import wooden bedroom furniture made in China for resale, you should visit the Department of Commerce Web site. For the Customs requirements to import furniture for resale, please see our publication U.S. Import Requirements.