What if it 
was you living in a different country and having 
to pay extra fees for something that you didnt 
xpect?

That's a pretty easy question to answer: I'd pay 
them.  I wouldn't be especially thrilled about it, 
but what else could I do?  I certainly wouldn't 
take it as a personal affront that my country of 
residence expected me to play along with their 
tax laws.

More importantly, if I moved out of the U.S. to 
another country and took up a hobby that 
involved frequent international transactions, I'd 
probably quickly learn for what the folks at the 
customs office were and were not going to 
expect payment.  Just because two out of 
three dealers marked the declaration forms 
one way doesn't mean that a third dealer 
sending a big ticket shipment was going to do 
the same.  Just because you weren't 
expecting to pay a customs duty doesn't mean 
you're still not responsible for it.