"US Collectors discriminated against"

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An argument being much bandied about in no-questions-asked collecting circles these days is that the application of US laws requiring importers of archaeological artefacts to show they were legally exported from the source country in some way "discriminates against" US citizens as such laws do not exist in every country in the world. (The requirement does apply in theory at least to all states party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention - see its Art. 8.) Obviously collectors feel this is a strong argument. So let us have a look at the rights of US citizens in general concerning the taking of things bought abroad (and things bought openly within the US) across US borders. There is a list of them on the US Customs and Border Protection webpage. Apart from Cultural Artifacts and Cultural Property, US CBP regulations and objects of concern include: Absinthe (Alcohol), Alcoholic Beverages, Automobiles, Biologicals, Ceramic Tableware (!), "Defense Articles or Items with Military or Proliferation Applications", Dog and Cat Fur, Drug Paraphernalia, Firearms, Fish and Wildlife Food Products (Prepared), Prior Notice for Food Importation, Fruits and Vegetables, Game and Hunting Trophies, Gold, Haitian Animal Hide Drums, Meats, Livestock and Poultry, Medication, Merchandise from Embargoed Countries, Pets, Plants and Seeds, Soil, Textiles and Clothing, Trademarked and Copyrighted Articles. On reading through the detailed lists it turns out that Americans are already restricted from taking across their borders a whole range of things which Europeans are free to take from country to country, both within the EU as well as outside it. It would seem it is not just as a collector of ancient dugups the US citizen might feel hard-done-by. No doubt we will soon see the rise of the Salami-Eater's Guild (SEG), the Rhino-Horn Ingesters Club (RHIC) and the Absinthe Drinkers Unite (ADI) to fight these imagined injustices alongside the coiney naysayers' ACCG.