I mean, say, you want a really nice camera, or a drone, or maybe a gaming laptop, and since those things are made in China, they are too expensive to buy right now in the US, since tariffs are over 100%. So you just go to Canada, buy the thing, unpack it from the packaging, and pretend like its just personal items. Just like a smartphone.
AFIAK, border agents usually don’t ask if you bought your phone in the US or from outside, they shouldn’t ask about other personal electronics, right?
It’s been years since I’ve crossed the Canada/USA border, so things may be different today. But when I went, the Canada side was more concerned about smuggled weapons, while the USA side was more concerned about smuggled drugs. Still, it doesn’t take much to trigger a border patrol search.
Apparently if you go from New Brunswick in the morning, spend the day driving through Maine/New Hampshire/Vermont, and cross into Quebec the next day, that’s suspicious enough to get detained for several hours and to have your entire car searched at the border. To me it just made sense to do a straight line drive through those states, since staying inside Canada between those two points would have been a much longer, more convoluted route. Silly me, being logical about my route without considering how others break international law.
People in border towns are always on alert for people walking remote roads, hitchhikers, etc. The border strip itself is cleared and monitored with remote cameras, drones, patrols on horseback and ATVs, etc.
My wife and I were bored and it was raining in northern NH so we decided to explore the far north end of NH. Then we decided “Since we are this close to the border lets go to Canada.” We told the border officer that we were going for the day for lunch and he paused for a sec then waved us through. lol We ended up eating in a Greek restaurant and found out they still smoked in restaurants in Quebec.