Hutzal - this happened to me too (~$3K order) and it was entirely painless. FedEx can e-mail you the form, you fill it out and fax it back and never hear about it again. The way Axiom sets up the orders they are responsible for any duties on the items as they ship, but customs rules require that they track where the orders are going. I see little risk in asking a friend to provide their SSN for the shipment. (though I'm not an export/import lawyer, I'm just responding from my own experience)
Jason
PS: FedEx is just following government rules and covering their butts by getting it filled out... I don't think their process is nearly as airtight as they'd like you to think it is... While I was on the phone with their support desk arguing about what this form was all about and how I wanted my speakers ASAP (and they said there was nothing they could do), FedEx rung my doorbell and left half the shipment on the front porch... Fairly amusing... The other speakers showed up 2 days after I faxed the form.
