Tag: HTS Classification
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Understanding De Minimis and Its Suspension De minimis treatment is a CBP procedure that waives duty collection on shipments below a specified value threshold, historically $800 for most shipments and higher thresholds for goods from designated developing countries. The de minimis exemption recognizes that collection costs for duties on low-value shipments may exceed the duty…
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Executive Overview: The Data-Driven Enforcement Shift The US Customs and Border Protection agency’s enforcement activity in 2025 demonstrated a measurable shift toward analytics-driven targeting and fact-intensive verification. CBP issued increasing volumes of CF-28 forms (Customs Form 28, used for fact-finding requests seeking additional information about shipments) and CF-29 forms (Customs Form 29, used for claim…
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The Section 122 Surcharge: Framework and Reality The flat 10% Section 122 surcharge announced as import policy appears at first glance to be a uniform tariff applied across all product categories. In reality, the surcharge operates as a residual duty applied only to merchandise not protected by other tariff measures or specific exclusions. Understanding this…
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IEEPA Tariffs: The Foundation and What Importers Paid The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) grants the President authority to impose tariffs and trade restrictions during periods of national emergency. In recent years, IEEPA has been invoked multiple times to implement tariffs on goods from various countries, affecting billions of dollars in imports and impacting…
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Executive Overview: A Turning Point in Global Trade Architecture January 1, 2026 marked a significant inflection point in global trade policy. Rather than converging toward common tariff standards or liberalization, major trading jurisdictions simultaneously pursued divergent policy approaches that fragment the global trading system. China reduced tariffs on 935 industrial inputs while Mexico implemented new…
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The Enforcement Environment Has Fundamentally Shifted A 79% surge in CBP trade allegations represents a dramatic escalation in enforcement activity that importers cannot afford to ignore. The 2,800-plus anonymous tips hitting CBP this year reflect not only increased regulatory scrutiny but also a reporting environment where competitors, employees, and industry participants have become de facto…
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The New Reality: AI-Driven Enforcement Changes Everything The Customs and Border Protection agency has fundamentally transformed its approach to tariff administration in 2026. What was once a compliance issue managed through traditional audits and manual reviews has evolved into an automated, algorithmic enforcement system that operates in real-time across the entire supply chain. The integration…
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Drop-shipping customs compliance for Shopify, Etsy, Amazon sellers. Section 321 changes, IOR responsibilities, formal entry economics.
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Project cargo customs procedures. Heavy lift, breakbulk, multi-shipment projects, classification and valuation challenges.
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Post-close tariff integration. Broker consolidation, classification harmonization, USMCA program integration.