Assists

QUESTION: Can assist values be manually added to the invoice presented for entry in Mexico and Canada. Vendors may not be aware of any assist and need to know the best way to handle this. ========== Answers: Yes.  If you add the full value to the invoice they will pay any duties all at once […]

QUESTION: We are sending over to China some “gauges” for measure the thread on ours casings during manufacture. These gauges will be staying in China to use on all of our products. Since we are sending these “Free of charge” would these gauges be considered assists? We would also need to add in the freight […]

QUESTION: Scenario- Patterns sent to China years ago, that produced product by a manufacturer hired through an agent to us the importer of record. Assists were claimed on first imports made by this manufacturer through this agent.  Agent stopped using this manufacturer and the patterns were moved to a new manufacturer (same country), and we […]

QUESTION: I know that “assists” involve the buyer of imported merchandise providing for free or at a reduced cost, certain items for use in the production or sale of merchandise for export to the US.  My question involves the definition of “reduced cost”.  If an importer sells the item at the importer’s actual cost of […]

QUESTION: I’m finding the following costs associated with the order for casting:ToolingPKG chargeTestingX ray certShipping costNREI’m wondering if all these are considered assist?========== Answer: As a general rule and without additional information on the specific use, all of this would be considered to be supplemental payment related to the production or exportation of the items […]

QUESTION: Assists- when sending over a mold to make several or more items, do we need to declared the price of that mold for every item that is made from it? Or can we just claim the value of the mold on the first importation of the first item being made with that mold?  I […]

QUESTION: I always thought that in order for valuation assists to be a required addition to the PAPP the importer also had to be the buyer and provider of the item/component/mold etc provided free of charge.   From the ICP Assist booklet – “An assist is any of the items listed below that the buyer […]

QUESTION: There is overseas R&D taking place at two of my company’s overseas subsidiaries. The work they perform contributes to the engineering designs of many of the company’s products, which are either manufactured in the U.S. or manufactured overseas. Overseas manufacturing can take place at a third party subcontractor location, another overseas subsidiary location, or […]

QUESTION: We are operating currently under a Switzerland entity. The entity is global. Transactions that occur within the entity do not result in a financial transfer occurring on the books. For example, we are physically shipping material under the Switzerland entity in the U.S., to the Switzerland entity in Mexico. We have a value for […]

QUESTION: Is the cost of a feasibility study undertaken overseas, but paid for by a USA company considered an assist? ========== Answers: I think that the answer, in part, depends on who you paid for the study and what the study actually relates to. There is a rebuttable presumption that all payments made by a […]

QUESTION: I always thought that in order for valuation assists to be a required addition to the PAPP the importer also had to be the buyer and provider of the item/component/mold etc provided free of charge.   From the ICP Assist booklet – “An assist is any of the items listed below that the buyer […]