I have ordered a piece of gym equipment from the US - it cost around US$2,000. I thought import tax here was 10% but now I am being told I need a broker to get it out of customs (I'm not a business it's for my own personal use at home) and they are quoteing me over US$1,000 in taxes in fees - basically over 70% of the value of the equipment. Is this normal? Has anyone else had this problem? Perhaps someone could let me know.

I had two 25 year old bikes, totally reconditioned Raleigh three speeds, imported from the US to Puerto Morelos. Apparently, and I don't understand this entirely, you cannot import bikes through customs in Cancun. You can import them through other cities in Mexico, but not Cancun! I would pay whatever tax I had to to get them, have been to customs in Cancun twice and to Puerto Morelos once, have filled out numerous papers, still no bikes.

I got little or no help from customs officers in Cancun.

Where is NAFTA when I need it. And does anyone have any ideas on what I can do?