The United States is one of the biggest tobacco importers in the world, competing with European and Asian tobacco importing powerhouses for a spot in the top 15. Americans love foreign cigars, imported cigarettes, and duty-free tobacco. In spite of — or perhaps as a response to — their popularity, [...]
If you’re a US importer, it’s a fact: at some point, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will probably target you for an audit at some point. Large or small, your operations and transactional compliance might be under a particularly watchful eye someday. Are you prepared with your customs audit checklist? [...]
You might not be as ready to import without a customs broker as you think. While it might not seem immediately obvious to you, customs brokers are a valuable piece to the puzzle if you want to run a smooth operation. Whether you’re a big corporation or a small business, [...]
There’s a fine line that separates intermodal and multimodal transportation. It’s nearly indiscernible; both are used as a means of cargo transportation and to determine the best transportation route while utilizing transport carriers in order to get deliveries from door to door. In short, intermodal shipping utilizes several different contracts [...]
First introduced in 2009 and fully in effect since 2010, ISF filing is a crucial part of any importing any cargo coming into the United States by ocean carrier. While ISF has no bearing on your cargo’s admissibility and does not generally influence trade enforcement, US Customs and Border Protection [...]
Navigating commercial importing is like battling a sea of paperwork. Declarations, invoices, permits, border bonds… trying to navigate every aspect of clearing customs on your own can feel like you’re swimming against the current. In order to clear up some of the confusion around customs procedures, we’re going over two [...]
Importing goods over the border can be a complex and intimidating task. There are many rules and regulations placed on the import of goods by the US. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the importer is expected to have a thorough understanding of them. The least costly way to get [...]
Duty drawbacks have been around for a long time, and were first established in 1789. They were put in place to boost production and trade of goods for American manufacturers. Interestingly, these duty drawbacks are still used today, though there have been some changes and additions from Congress over the [...]
If you’re in the business of importing and exporting, you’ve probably heard of landed costs. You’ve probably also heard that they’re vital to your shipping operations. But what is a landed cost? Why is it so important to do total landed cost analysis? We’ll define landed cost, help you with [...]
A hot topic in the news these days is the trade relationship between U.S. and China. It’s an interesting, if not slightly troubling, time for global economists, investors, importers and retailers. There are currently high import tariffs from China to the U.S., and vice versa. For Americans, importing from China [...]
