Interesting thread (and the related ones as well). Although it's been awhile since I've lived full-time overseas (both Japan and Britain). Duty this, Duty that, VAT and all that crap were always a hassle and varied a lot depending on how stuff was brought in or out.
These days, here in LA, it seems like everything I bring in from Japan or Australia takes about a day, arrives pristine and costs me less than it would've if I'd bought it in Japan in person (they subtract the local sales tax). The items I get from Europe seem to fall into some kind of limbo, are nearly untraceable, have huge hidden charges when they do arrive and the package always looks like it's been a play-toy for a gorilla in addition to be ripped open, ransacked and taped back together with this hideous green (red would be more appropriate) tape. Customs is brutal coming from the UK to the US. From Japan it doesn't seem to exist. Must be the times.
Nothing I can do about any of this if I want stuff from overseas but it does seem that the less anything is handled (lost, mutilated, stolen, etc.) by the US Postal Service or other governmental entity, the better my experience is.