Assists

QUESTION: I received this vague comment from a Chinese supplier re: reduced import duties on R&D costs: ‘In regard to invoices, I have been told that there is a certain percentage of the cost in products involved with research and development, which is tariff free.  We can present the invoice properly so that it will […]

QUESTION: If you include the value of an assist provided to a supplier in Canada in your declared value, and under USMCA the finished article is originating content in your bill of material, and then from an accounting standpoint, the tooling owned by the principal/manufacturer is considered overhead/manufacturing/operating expenses, which is also originating, is that, […]

QUESTION: I would like guidance on an assist situation from the membership. Our US entity pays forward to an unrelated Chinese entity that purchases and imports raw material of plant origin and transfers it to a related Chinese manufacturing entity for a fee that covers their services. The raw material is used to manufacture two […]

OT Fact Sheet: Origin Certification Requirements QUESTION: Does anyone in the membership have a document they would be willing to share on the questions they ask their purchasing / sales / engineering teams that covers import assists?  Also, what is the flow of that information within your organization. =========== Answer You may want to make […]

QUESTION: Quick question on sending a mold to an offshore supplier for use in manufacturing goods we will import.  I know that 19 CFR § 152.102(a)(1)(ii) states that a mold would be an assist, but we have a situation we have never come across and I just want to be sure my gut reaction is […]

QUESTION: Does anyone in the membership have a document they would be willing to share on the questions they ask their purchasing / sales / engineering teams that covers import assists?  Also, what is the flow of that information within your organization. =========== AnswerYou may want to make this part of a broader training you […]

QUESTION: We supply funds to a company in Mexico to purchase tooling used to manufacture components used in our finished product.  The components are imported into the United States by the manufacturer’s parent company headquartered in Texas.We cannot claim an assist (or supplemental payment) because we do not import the components.What is our responsibility, if […]

QUESTION: We would like to add a check on Assists in our internal audit process of manufacturers.  Does any member have this as a check point in their internal audit?   What questions do you ask?  =========== Answer: We have developed a relationship with our Procurement Team, educating them on regulatory laws and ownership to develop […]

QUESTION: We have engineers located outside of the U.S. who do our design work and other engineering responsibilities that are necessary to produce the goods that we import into the U.S. These expenses are charged back to us in the U.S. with a VAT percentage and profit percentage value added.  Should the VAT and profit value […]

QUESTION: If an Importer is providing tooling to a foreign producer to manufacture parts, and that producer sells/sends the parts to another country, and unrelated factory, to be incorporated into the imported good, how would that be accounted for in the import value of the finished good when entered into the U.S.? Is it an […]