If circumstances like school or work require you to relocate to a foreign country and you intend to take your household goods, you may be required to file in the Automated Export System (AES).

The Foreign Trade Regulations (Section 30.1(c)) defines household goods as “usual and reasonable kinds and quantities of personal property necessary and appropriate for use by the U.S. Principal Party in Interest (USPPI) in the USPPI’s dwelling in a foreign country that are shipped under a bill of lading or air waybill and are not intended for sale.” Please note that used self-propelled vehicles like cars, motorcycles, etc. are not considered household goods and have special filing requirements. These special filing requirements can be found here.

If you are moving to Canada or the value of the household goods is less than $2,500, you do not have to file Electronic Export Information (EEI) in AES. Just enjoy your travels and ship your goods to their destination using either the Canadian exemption “NOEEI 30.36” or the low value exemption “NOEEI 30.37(a)” as appropriate.

If you are moving to a country other than Canada, and the value of your household goods is over $2,500, you or your authorized agent must file the EEI in the AES prior to exporting your goods. On the bright side, there is limited reporting associated with the filing of household goods. Note that a Schedule B number and 1^st quantity is not required once the household goods export code “HH” is selected. Below is a sample commodity line filed through AESDirect with “HH” selected as the export code along with data in each mandatory field.