Well I don't know the actual details. But I would say, if you want people to buy stuff, you need to make it easy. That's been the genius of amazon, they made it easy, even buying stuff from foreign based buyers. I don't know how it worked for my crank purchase, whether the seller was operating completely from China, or whether they had a US distributor who dealt with amazon and US buyers. I have not a clue. Back when I worked in industry, dealing with companies in the US who had parent companies in Europe and Asia, I recall hearing peripherally about import agents, perhaps a different name, but large shipments had to go through them. Now when a customer needed to test a part quick, I just put the (rather large and heavy part) in my suitcase and hopped on a 747 to Tokyo, with suitcase in tow in first class; That was before tightening of security and not being able to carry anything on board that could even remotely be used as a weapon to club someone. But even small shipments by mail or courier, I have not a clue about regulations. Used to be, for mail or online purchases, you only needed to pay sales tax if the seller had a brick-and-mortar (physical) presence in the buyer's state; I don't know if that is still true.

However I do like your Pontius Pilate reference. Didn't he invent some kind of exercise?