Trade Compliance Strategies to Consider

Mitigate Risk, Streamline Process, and Control Costs

Weigh speed, cost, capabilities, risks, and returns to determine how to keep your freight moving forward.

• Potentially faster to deploy, lower cost to implement, lower risk, and smaller impact
• Potentially slower to deploy, higher cost to implement, greater scrutiny, larger impact

Potentially faster to deploy, lower cost to implement, lower risk, and smaller impact

Periodic Monthly Statement

Are you taking advantage of this free U.S. CBP program that provides additional flexibility to manage working capital required for duty payments? Reduce fees associated with duty outlay and pay as late as the 15th of the following month.

ACE Portal

Are you staying on top of your U.S. CBP activity by using this free secure data portal to create blanket declarations, run reports, pay duties and fees on a monthly basis, and respond to requests for information? Analyze your data in near real-time to identify, evaluate, and resolve compliance issues.

Accurate HTS Classifications & Binding Rulings

Have you confirmed that your product HTS classifications are correct? Are they covered under trade remedy measures?

Consolidated Customs Entry

Based on your ACE shipping data, is there opportunity to consolidate multiple shipments into one customs entry – potentially reducing processing fees?

Duty Exclusions

If your products are covered under provisional tariff measures, are there opportunities to request an exclusion? If your product is excluded, are you aware of the deadlines or extension request opportunities? Are there legal proceedings in which you can participate?

Currency & Valuation Strategies

Have you considered exchange rate strategies in your procurement process? Are there deductions to declared value that you can apply?

Potentially slower to deploy, higher cost to implement, greater scrutiny, larger impact

Free Trade Agreements & Other Preference Programs

Can you qualify and substantiate U.S. free trade agreements to reduce or eliminate duty? Are there other special provisions that can apply to your import?

Broker Known Importer Program (BKIP)

Are you currently invested in a strong partnership with your customs broker in which you regularly talk about your import program with respect to regulations and trade compliance? BKIP is a voluntary program that brings value to all parties involved: CBP, the importer, and the customs broker.

First Sale for Export Valuation

Are you declaring entry against the invoice value of a middleman? There may be opportunity to reduce your declared value and ultimately duty spend. In the case of a multi-tiered transaction and under specific criteria prescribed by CBP, an importer may be eligible to apply the value of a sale that occurred earlier in the supply chain (and which is presumably lower than the final sale price to the U.S. importer) for purposes of determining the dutiable value of imported merchandise.

Electronic Product / Invoice Data Integration

Are you electronically connected with your customs broker to transmit HTS product databases and commercial invoice information? This can reduce operating expenses, enhance the accuracy of the customs declaration, and provide for greater trade compliance and landed cost analysis.

Duty Drawback

Drawback is the refund of certain duties, internal revenue taxes and fees paid on imported merchandise that is exported, destroyed or used in the manufacturing of exported or destroyed merchandise. Do you import and later export, or manufacture then export?

Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT)

CTPAT is a voluntary public-private sector partnership program which recognizes that CBP can provide the highest level of cargo security only through close cooperation with the principal stakeholders of the international supply chain. When an entity joins CTPAT, an agreement is made to work with CBP to protect the supply chain, identify security gaps, and implement specific security measures and best practices. CTPAT Partners enjoy a variety of benefits.

Importer Self-Assessment / CTPAT Trade Compliance

This is a voluntary program that provides the opportunity for importers who have made a commitment of resources to assume responsibility for monitoring their own trade compliance in exchange for benefits.

Alternative Sourcing, Tariff Engineering, Multicountry Manufacturing

Are you able to source product from other countries to avoid higher tariffs? Is it cost-effective to import assembled or as separate products? Does your product undergo substantial transformation in another country prior to entry into the U.S.?

Foreign Trade Zones & Bonded Warehouses

Do you have inventory that doesn’t need to ship right away? Defer duty payment until the time is right. Or, take advantage of a FTZ program to consolidate entries (potentially reducing fees), streamline your U.S. import process, improve security, and even reduce duty rates.

Get trade and tariff solutions from C.H. Robinson. Let our experts guide you through the current landscape.

With the exception of correct HTS classification, most of these programs are voluntary and optional. It is up to you to consider what is best for your company—weighing speed, costs, capabilities, and risks against the returns. Our information is compiled from a number of sources that to the best of our knowledge are accurate and correct.  It is always the intent of our company to present accurate information. C.H. Robinson accepts no liability or responsibility for the information published herein.  Should you have any questions or concerns please consult with legal counsel as necessary or the  U.S. Government Agency (e.g., U.S. Customs and Border Protection) or its regulations (e.g., U.S.C. Title 19) that maintains jurisdiction or control over a certain topic.

All content and materials discussed herein are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. You should always independently check the related Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and, if needed, consult with the applicable Federal Agency (e.g. CBP, USTR) and/or external counsel where any question or doubt exists. Information on this site is the property of C.H. Robinson. Any transmission or use without C.H. Robinson’s permission and approval is not allowed or authorized.