Plain-English guides on HS codes, country of origin, duty-paid checkout, and EU and UK customs changes.
A CBP notice of action, the CF29, tells an importer the agency proposes to change how an entry was classified, valued, or rated, and will assess more duty unless the importer responds in time.
A customs seizure notice starts a legal clock, not a customer service conversation. Brands that read the notice carefully, protect deadlines, and choose the right remedy can recover goods or limit the damage.
Rules of origin decide which country a product legally comes from, and that decision controls preferential duty rates, trade remedy exposure, and marking duties for goods sold across borders.
A customs broker turns your product data into compliant entries at the border. Choosing on price alone, or briefing with sloppy data, produces exams, delays, and duty bills that a better broker process would have prevented.
Many DTC imports need clearance from partner government agencies as well as Customs, covering food, cosmetics, electronics, toys, and more. A PGA hold is not a customs delay. It is a separate agency deciding whether your product may enter at all.
A customs bond is the guarantee behind your imports: it promises customs that duties, taxes, and obligations will be paid even if the importer does not pay them. DTC brands need the right bond type, sized to their actual import pattern, renewed without gaps.
Low value shipments enter the US under Section 321 with light paperwork, but light paperwork is not no paperwork. Importers using de minimis at volume need records that prove value, origin, and eligibility when customs comes asking. This guide sets out what to keep and for how long.
A foreign trade zone lets an importer bring goods into a secured area near a US port without formally entering them for customs, deferring duty until the goods leave the zone into US commerce and avoiding it entirely on re exports. This guide covers who actually benefits.
A bonded warehouse lets an importer store goods under customs control without paying duty until the goods leave for the home market, and avoid it entirely if they are re exported. Used well it is a cash flow tool. Used casually it becomes an expensive storage mistake. This guide explains how bonding works and when it pays.
The importer of record is the name customs holds responsible when something is wrong with an entry, even when a broker filed it and a supplier caused it. This guide sets out those responsibilities in plain language, where delegation helps and where it does not, and the records an importer must be able to produce.
Few messages worry an importer like a customs exam hold. The container stops, costs start, and information is scarce. This guide explains why exams are selected, the types of examination, what an importer can legitimately do during a hold, and how to reduce repeat flags.
Most customs bills for honest importers do not start with smuggling. They start with a transposed digit, a wrong value basis, or a classification copied from a similar product. This guide lists the entry summary errors that recur and the checking routine that catches them before liquidation.
Before a customs broker can act for an importer in the United States, the importer grants a power of attorney. New importers often sign it without reading it, or stall because it sounds alarming. This guide explains what the document does, what it does not do, and the checks worth making.
Goods entering the US must be marked with their country of origin, legibly and permanently, and sloppy marking is one of the most avoidable reasons shipments get held. This guide covers the marking rules importers miss and how to check goods before they leave the factory.
Most DTC customs delays are data delays: vague descriptions, wrong codes, values that do not match invoices, and missing manufacturer details. Each error repeats on every shipment of the same product until the underlying product data is fixed.
Section 321 lets qualifying low value shipments enter the US duty free up to the de minimis threshold, and Entry Type 86 gives brokers an electronic way to file those shipments with partner agency data included. The speed brands love depends on clean data.
Denied party screening compares customers, consignees, and partners against government lists of sanctioned and restricted parties before goods ship. Skipping it can turn an ordinary international order into a serious compliance violation.
A customs exam hold freezes a shipment while officers inspect goods and paperwork. The first 48 hours decide whether it clears as a delay or grows into storage fees, a seizure query, and a lost customer.
As de minimis duty free treatment narrows, DTC brands face duty and formal entry costs on parcels that used to cross free, and checkout pricing built on the old rule breaks quietly.
A forced labor detention stops a shipment cold: CBP holds the goods, the importer gets a short clock to prove the supply chain is clean, and weak traceability paperwork loses the cargo.
A CBP Form 28 request for information is not a penalty, but a careless or late reply can turn it into one. What officers are testing, what evidence to send, and how to set the 30 day reply up properly.
A CBP hold pauses a shipment for document review while an exam means physical inspection. The response, cost, and timeline differ sharply between them.
A CBP intensive exam adds weeks to DTC delivery times. What triggers parcels to be pulled aside, and how importers can lower their exam rate.
A focused assessment is CBP's deep dive into your import operation. What triggers one, what the auditors examine, and how importers prepare without disrupting the business.
Buying from your own factory should be simple. Why CBP treats related-party prices as guilty until proven innocent, and how to prove them.
Reconciliation lets importers flag entries for later correction instead of fighting CBP entry by entry. How the program works and when it saves a DTC importer.
AD/CVD orders can double the duty on apparel overnight. How the orders work, why the rates vary by exporter, and how brands model the risk before it hits their margins.
You can ask CBP to rule on your product's classification before a single unit ships. That ruling binds every port. How CROSS rulings work, what to include in the request, and why DTC brands skip this free insurance.
You found the underpayment before CBP did. That timing is worth real money. How prior disclosure limits penalties, what a valid disclosure must include, and the mistakes that void it.
A liquidated damages claim is CBP's penalty for breaking the promises in your import bond. What triggers one, what it costs, and how DTC brands respond.
Most parcels sail through; some get pulled. How CBP targets parcels for inspection, what flags your shipments, and how compliant brands stay in the fast lane.
A focused assessment is CBP's deep audit of your import compliance: valuation, classification, and recordkeeping under a microscope. What triggers one, what auditors ask for, and how to prepare before the letter arrives.