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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
QUESTION: We provide product designs, schematics and specifications to an overseas manufacturer. These designs are the product of my our employees working from their US corporate offices. The overseas factory in turn uses these designs to manufacture the goods which are then exported to the US. Would the designs provided to the foreign manufacturer be […]
QUESTION: A foreign factory/seller moves finished goods to a 3rd party storage facility (consolidator’s warehouse), and prior to export to the United States. The goods get mold or rust on them due to an unforeseen excessive length of storage time. The terms of sale for the goods are FCA (consolidators warehouse), and the importer/buyer is responsible for […]
QUESTION: Normally we import machinery and the design fee is added to the entered value, as an addition. We now have a case that there is only design fee on a USB, as the machinery will be made here in the US. How does one go about reporting the design fee, which is upwards of […]
