• Customs entry declarations and supplemental/secondary UoMs

    Question: When there are multiple reporting Unit of Measures listed in the US tariff schedule, can either be used for US entry summary/declarations?  Are both required? Answer 1: BOTH Answer 2: I presume you are extremely new to this because the answer is YES, YOU MUST RREPORT ALL. Answer 3: If there are multiple UOM’s […]

  • Company name change

    Question: We’re a US importer changing its company name.   The EIN and IOR# remain the same.  We’ve just updated the 5106 and the bond. Shipments already on the water have commercial invoices, bills of lading, and ISF filed with the old name, but when they arrive we will clear them through Customs under the new […]

  • Public import statistics

    Question: Are there any websites that publish import statistics by HTS/Value or by actual company?  For example, if I wanted to see the value of imports of Christmas-related items (9505.10.5020) is there a site where I can find this?  Also, are there any sites that contain specific retailers and value of imports and HTS codes […]

  • Declaring individual components for an assembled product

    Question: Customer is wanting to import an item in its final assembled form but wants to declare on the import entry each component of the item individually on the entry with each having its own COO and value. Is this possible to import a final assembly and declare each component of the item individually and […]

  • Import of Pharmaceutical API – NDA Pending

    Question: Hi My company is awaiting a response from the FDA regarding the approval of a NDA. In the meantime, we need to import API to begin commercial manufacturing.  Our foreign manufacturer has applied for their DLS (NDC) number however, the FDA informed them that since we do not have an approved NDA, they can […]

  • Return for Wrong Product

    Question: Wrong product was loaded and is currently set to arrive at the foreign port next week with FCA terms. We want to return the container to the US.  If the customer redirects the container back to the US and never clears their Customs, are they still considered the Exporter/Shipper?  Will they be able to […]

  • Customs Entry

    Question: Hello If I have an invoice, same “LIKE” items, same HTSUS code, same COO but have different part numbers for each as well as different cost per part number can I file my Customs entry as one line with totals or do I have to list out each item as it is listed on […]

  • FCR vs BOL

    Question: Our booking agent has been providing a Forwarders Cargo Receipt instead of a non-negotiable bill of lading. It is my understanding that the FCR cannot replace a bill of lading and does not represent a contract of carriage for FCL shipments. Please advise if customs entry can be made with the FCR alone. Answer […]

  • How to check import restrictions in the USA

    Question: Do you know if there is a free website where I can review the regulations that may apply to a certain product to be imported into the USA? I want to know import restrictions to some products for restaurants, sauces, plastic cutlery, napkins, among others. Answer 1: Your US Customs broker should be able […]

  • HTS CODE – Forms 3461 & 7501

    Question: Hello! We are currently reviewing the Import documentation of the shipments that have been approved for our Logistic group and it was noted that the HTS codes that were approved by Compliance do not match with the HTS that were added to the 3461 & 7501 forms.  Who could have changed the HTS codes?  The […]

  • Samples Being Shipped Back to US after export for quality check

    Question: We have a shipment that was sent to Singapore and we need to return small samples of the product to the US lab for quality testing purposes. I see we have 2 options to return the samples: 1) Chapter 98 US Goods Returned 2) US/Singapore FTA. Are there rules in place when you have […]

  • 5106 for multiple addresses

    Question: The company has one IOR tax ID and multiple locations that import and export, using one tax id. We are not interested in setting up IOR with suffixes.  One of our location’s addresses in the customs system shows a different tax ID. How do we update the record so multiple of our physical locations […]