BEIJING

In late 2010, Chinese customs officials imposed an import tax of 1,000 yuan (about $150 then) on every iPad brought into the country. Ignoring the fact that iPads differ in features and prices, officials set a single tariff: 20 percent of the tablet’s listed 5,000-yuan value. People who paid 3,000 yuan for an iPad in Hong Kong — where smartphones and other electronics are much cheaper than on the mainland — were charged the same tariff. Even Chinese tourists returning home with their own iPads, bought in China, were taxed!

This levy, imposed without prior warning, provoked a torrent of criticism. Even the Commerce Ministry registered disapproval, fearing that the levy would violate China’s commitments as a member of the World Trade Organization, which it joined in 2001.

As I set off for an overseas trip in January 2011, I asked the staff at the Beijing airport how to report that I would be leaving the country with an iPad, so as to avoid being taxed when I returned.

The first four people I asked said they didn’t know; the fifth told me the levy had been revoked. (In fact, the tax was cut in half, but not rescinded entirely.)