Customs Duties

Question: The product to be imported is an assembly line, with invoice value of only 10% of the contract value. What is the total tariff duty to be paid, is it only the 10% value as per invoice or the total cost of the assembly line. Should we pay only the 10% or we need […]

Question: We have a situation where free trade claims were made upon import, only to find out the exporter who provided the free trade certificate did not properly qualify goods.  Discovery was made during a Customs audit.   Importer is now subject to duties + interest + penalty and has requested the Exporter reimburse these costs […]

Question: I never participated in the First Sale program and at my new company i see that we meet the requirements (bona fide sale, direct export to USA, unrelated parties, etc).  The flow is we are the USA buyer (IOR) and the middleman is in the USA.  The middleman deals with a foreign manufacturer.  So […]

Question: Our company is going through a brand change. Below is what we have considered that will be impacted by the change. Is there anything else we need to consider? New POA’s with brokers. US Customs require new ACE Account (CBP Form 5106). USMCA will require mass COO document changes. Import Bonds and Insurance Need […]

Question: So was wondering how to claim manufacturing cost on imports. will be paying the foreign manufacturer an annual sum Not sure what the percentage of the product will actually be a US Import and need to be claimed on entry. How would I claim this and what is the time frame to claim the […]

QUESTION: We had to cancel an order of “made to order” items. Unfortunately, the manufacturer had already produced the goods in question. We have since been invoiced for those materials, since they had to be scrapped. If we import these (or similar) items in the future, must we report the invoiced amount of the scrapped […]

QUESTION: As CBP no longer issues paper Liquidation Notices and Supplemental Duty Bills, how does an importer without an ACE account receive Supplemental Duty Bills? Supposedly, CBP provides a web site where this information can be searched, without an ACE account, by entry number or importer number. Can anyone provide that website? Thank you. ========== […]

QUESTION: For a shipment that arrives in LA/LB and then is moved on an I.T. to Atlanta, is the duty rate based on the date of arrival in LA/LB or on the date that entry is filed (arrival) in Atlanta. Where is this answer found in the regulations? ******************* Answers: I believe duties are based […]

QUESTION: Does the community know if Customs has a threshold for issuing a duty refund? For instance, if we are owed a refund of $14, will Customs issue a refund or is there a specific dollar amount required before they will do so? ========== Answers: Yes, there is a de mimimis of $20. CBP will […]

QUESTION: I am tasked with providing accurate duty rates for apparel to our sourcing team then classifying the goods closer to ensure accuracy for customs.I’m curious to know what best practices other importers are using to provide true rates to sourcing, or how you use to streamline/automate this process.Line-by-line on Excel is too time consuming. […]