Assists

Questions and answers about Assists – Tooling

  • ASSIST SCENARIO

    QUESTION: Company A in the US creates a widget and sends to the related party in China Company B. Company B further processes the widget and it is now a product of China. Company B sends it to Vendor M in Mexico.  But this is on Consignment so Vendor M doesn’t pay for it but […]

  • US PURCHASED ASSIST

    QUESTION: If raw material purchased in the US and provided to a foreign supplier free of charge, must the cost of the raw material be included in the finished product from the foreign supplier when imported in to the US?  ========== Answers: Yes indeed.  A good example demonstrating this is ruling H057714.  Remember, CROSS and […]

  • ASSIST MATERIALITY

    QUESTION: With regard to Assists, is there a materiality basis or a minimum value to claim an Assist? ==================== ANSWERS: No ==================== There is no legal or regulatory sanctioned minimum value to claim an assist.   George Tuttle III Law Offices of George R. Tuttle, A.P.C. 1100 Larkspur Landing Circle, Suite 385 Larkspur, CA 94939 […]

  • ASSIST SCENARIO

    QUESTION: I’ve been asked to do some research regarding engineering assists for my company.  I found that per TAA, 19 U.S.C. 1401a (h), an engineering assist is defined as: (A)(iv) Engineering, development, artwork, design work, and plans and sketches that are undertaken elsewhere than in the United States and are necessary for the production of […]

  • ASSIST SCENARIO

    QUESTION: 1.       If we give a UK supplier US tooling drawings to produce tooling to manufacture an Item for us is it considered an assist? I believe we are ultimately paying for the tooling it will be included in a Non-recurring cost 2. We are also supplying Tooling Drawings that we purchased from a foreign […]

  • TOOLING CHARGES

    QUESTION: Our current process: – Pay tooling charges to the supplier – Supplier send samples for approval – First production order release – Add the tooling value on the first production shipment entry I just discovered that some of the samples approved NEVER get into production. so there was tooling charges that never claimed as […]

  • ASSIST SCENARIO

    QUESTION: If a US company provides a spec drawing to a foreign contract manufacture only -> is this considered an assist? If so, how is this quantified and reported to US Customs? ============================= ANSWERS: If the design/spec drawing were done in the US, they are not assists. If they were done elsewhere, their cost is […]

  • ASSISTS

    QUESTION: Process – What import process ensures all Assists are captured? Are there examples of such processes the membership is willing to share? Accounting – Are all Assists to be capitalized and expensed? Compliance – Since multiple functions have the ability to initiate Assists, how is a company able to be 100% compliant with regard […]

  • ASSIST SCENARIO

    QUESTION: We have a related party that we are shipping our old equipment to.  The facts are as follows: 1)  We used to manufacture goods in house but have now outsourced to our sister company overseas (for approximately the last year) 2)  We have excess equipment (fully depreciated on our books – probably 25-50 years […]

  • OVERSEAS ENGINEERING MGMT

    QUESTION: How are US importers handling engineering for imported product that is contracted with US engineering firms, but may subsequently be sent to engineers that are outside the US? Do you specifically ask about all the 3rd party engineering firms and where the work is physically completed? Do you work under the assumption that the […]

  • APPORTIONING ASSISTS

    QUESTION: Background: Our parent company, in Germany, has undertaken the design work (drawing) for a mold. They’ve provided those drawings to the mold manufacturer, also located in Germany. The manufacturer will use those drawings to produce molds for sale, both to our U.S. facility and our parent facility in Germany. Questions: 1 – Given that […]

  • TOOLING CHARGES

    QUESTION: Our supplier overseas charges us “tooling” charges for some of our parts; these charges are paid in advance then we get samples usually free of charge; and if the samples approved; the first production PO# issued​ with unit price (excluded tooling charge paid in advance) ​. The​ exact​ quantity will be ordered using this […]