Foreign Test Report Acceptance: Why a Valid Lab Report Can Still Be Rejected
A product is tested in a good laboratory. The report is technically sound, the accreditation is real, the engineering is beyond question. Twelve months later the same report is submitted for approval in a destination market and comes back rejected, not because anything in it is wrong, but because the laboratory that issued it is […]
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: Why a Fire Rating Does Not Cross Borders
Cable is the least interesting line on a data centre bill of materials. 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 the few items where the paperwork can stop the […]
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 […]
The Coolant, Not the GPUs, Is the Hard Part of Importing a Liquid-Cooled AI Cluster
An AI infrastructure operator places an order for a liquid-cooled GPU cluster: several million dollars of accelerators, the racks, the cooling distribution units, and the fluid that makes the whole thing possible. The hardware is the expensive part and the part everyone focuses on. It is also the part that clears customs without much drama, […]
You Moved Production Out of China. Your Certifications Did Not Automatically Move With You.
A hardware company spends nine months moving production of its networking equipment from Shenzhen to a contract manufacturer outside Hanoi. The tariff maths works. The unit cost holds. The first Vietnamese-built units ship to customers in the United States and the European Union, and for a quarter everything looks like a success. Then a routine […]
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 European Commission switches on the Central Digital Product Passport Registry and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation reaches full application. Almost nothing happens. No product on any shelf in Europe becomes illegal that morning, no shipment gets turned away at Rotterdam, and most importers of IT hardware will not notice […]