Exporting Equipment for Repair: The Relief You Claim Before It Leaves, Not After It Returns
A failed server goes back to the manufacturer for a board-level repair. A medical imaging unit returns to its maker for recalibration. A telecoms card is sent across a border under warranty. In each case the equipment leaves, gets fixed, and comes back, and in each case the same expensive mistake is waiting at the […]
Importing Used Equipment into Vietnam: 20 Years, 85%, and a List You Have Never Seen
A semiconductor packaging line is being relocated. The tools are eleven years old, fully functional, and worth a fraction of what the current generation costs. The receiving site is in Vietnam, one of the few places actively building semiconductor capacity from the ground up while the rest of the industry competes for finished AI hardware. […]
Importing Data Centre Cabling: Fire Ratings in the EU, US and India
Cable is the least interesting line on a data centre bill of materials, which makes importing data centre cabling easy to underestimate. It is bought by the kilometre, it costs a fraction of what the compute costs, and it is usually the last thing anyone reviews. It is also, on a large build, one of […]
Importing Network Security Equipment: The Licence You Cannot File Yourself
It is 2026, and a hyperscale operator ships the security stack for a new facility in Southeast Asia: firewalls, security gateways, encrypted storage, the routers and switches that tie it together. The export side is handled properly. The classification is confirmed, the parties are screened, the filing is made, and the shipment leaves the origin […]
Importing Diesel Generators: Why Emissions Certification Matters More Than Customs Clearance
A data centre programme is running to a commissioning date. The backup power package arrives on schedule: several multi-megawatt generator sets, procured from a manufacturer with a global footprint, shipped against a build deadline that has no float left in it. The units usually clear customs where the import documentation is complete, because a generator […]
Importing Data Centre Coolant: PFAS, Transport and Customs Checks
An AI operator orders a liquid-cooled GPU cluster, and importing data centre coolant is the last thing on anyone’s mind. The order covers millions of dollars of accelerators, the racks, the cooling distribution units and the fluid. The hardware gets all the attention, and it usually clears customs without drama. The line that can get […]
You Moved Production Out of China. Your Certifications Did Not Automatically Move With You.
A hardware company moves production of its networking equipment from Shenzhen to a contract manufacturer outside Hanoi. The tariff maths works and the first Vietnamese-built units ship to the US and the EU. Then a routine customs examination in Rotterdam pulls a unit, and the compliance team finds the new factory swapped the wireless module […]
US De Minimis Exemption Suspended 2026: What Every Importer and E-Commerce Seller Must Do Now
The US de minimis exemption has been suspended. Since August 29, 2025, every commercial shipment entering the United States, regardless of value, regardless of country of origin, and regardless of shipping method, is subject to formal customs entry, 10-digit HTS classification, and full duty payment. The $800 threshold that allowed 1.36 billion packages to enter […]
The EU Digital Product Passport Makes Your Importer Liable
On 19 July 2026, the deadline arrived for the European Commission’s central EU Digital Product Passport registry, and the registry went live the following day. Almost nothing happened. No product on any shelf in Europe became illegal that morning, no shipment was turned away at Rotterdam, and most importers of IT hardware did not notice […]
The Section 301 Electronics Exemption: Why IT Hardware Importers Gained on 24 July When the Market Braced for a Wash
Update, 28 July 2026: The Section 301 forced-labour action is now final and in effect. It took effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern on 24 July 2026, the same moment the Section 122 surcharge expired. The exemptions are set out in two annexes, Annex I and Annex II, and the final exemption list is broader than […]