• DEDUCTION 10% ON INVOICE FOR FOB PRICE

      Question:   Do any of the members know about an industry practice where the FF deducts a flat 10% from the value of an invoice when the INCO term is C (the 10% is an estimate for the freight and insurance)?  I have a FF telling me this is standard industry practice and required […]

  • FEES FOR “FIRST SALE”

    Question: We’ve recently implemented a First Sale program with a few suppliers.   Our broker has since asked for an increase in their rates to reflect the additional paperwork and steps involved in the first sale entries.  Has any other member been asked for a similar rate increase after implementing First Sale?  

  • RECONCILIATION AND TRANSACTION VALUE

    Question: Our company is new to reconciliation and I was advised to flag everything that comes in and then weed out what doesn’t need to be sent to customs when we file. We are flagging for value. I thought anything that is at transaction value doesn’t need to be flagged and only items coming from […]

  • Valuation Older Material

    Question:Does anyone out there have a policy or procedure on determining the value for used equipment that no longer has value on the books? My company is starting to move older equipment out to some of our global facilities and some of those locations are sending equipment here that they aren’t using.  Much of this […]

  • PRICE PAID OR PAYABLE

    Question: Goods are imported from a supplier using a mold to be paid for by the importer, but the actual payment for the mold may not happen for 2+ years after the first importation. A purchase order or agreement for the importer to pay for the mold does exist, but quality concerns and other approvals […]

  • COMPUTED VALUE

    Question: My question is about the expenses that should be included in the actual value when preparing the reconciliation entry. According to §152.106, computed value includes: 1) the cost or value of the materials and the fabrication and other processing of any kind employed in the production of the imported merchandise; 2) An amount for […]

  • PRICE PAID OR PAYABLE

    Question: We sell a product to a company that usually imports it on their own account and tooling for that is provided by our parent company overseas to the foreign manufacturer. The parent company bills us the cost of that tooling, and we bill the customer. My opinion, this does not qualify to be an […]

  • NON DUTIABLE CHARGES

    Given: The valuation rules allow me to deduct the cost of ocean freight from the CIF price of my imports. Further details: I understand that the deduction has to be tied directly to the shipment and that I can not take any kind of an average or pro-rated from contract rate for the deduction. It […]

  • Value with Currency Adjustments

    Question: We cut a PO for $14,020 to our German supplier.They ship (export)  the products along with an invoice for EUR 8,836 onMay 12, 2008 (exchange rate is = $13,685. Our Accounts Payable pays our supplier using the Euro invoice at a laterdate and actually pays $14,128.56. For compliance purposes, should we pay the amount […]

  • Hot Lot/Expedite fees

    Question:At George Tuttle’s valuation seminar in October, he mentioned that hot lot/expedite fees are valid additions to transaction value.  Does anyone have a ruling reference to support this?  Can’t find anything in CROSS.

  • VALUATION FOR REPAIR

    We have a parts depot in the U.S. where customers can send their broken items and they are repaired or replaced. Usually the good (new or refurbished) item is sent in advance. (Most of these shipments are going to Canada, Australia, or the UK.) Then the bad item comes in, gets repaired or refurbished on […]

  • VALUATIONS FOR ENGINEERING SAMPLES

    I am having a continuing problem with various entities sending engineering samples, parts, etc. with arbitrary values declared (example: $1.00). Our broker catches these and contacts us prior to making entry. I then contact the shipper and explain to them the need for proper valuation. I have explained the proper methodology for valuation if these are […]