TradeLane

In most operations, the compliance department audits and approves the duty bills as part of its responsibilities. The good news is that the U.S. government will accept many forms of payment for import duty and fees:

• U.S. currency and coins
• Bank drafts
• Cashiers' checks
• Certified checks
• Personal checks drawn on a U.S. financial institution
• Domestic travelers' checks
• U.S. Governments checks endorsed by the payee to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
• Money orders (U.S. Postal, bank, express or telegraph)

The bad news is that there’s no clear way for an international compliance group to show that these every-day compliance processes improve the bottom line. Or is there?

I’ve always found it interesting that so many healthcare companies that import chemicals and pharmaceuticals have such a difficult time with import compliance. These companies typically have solid regulatory compliance knowledge regarding the FDA, Departments of Agriculture, Consumer Product Safety Commission and many other agencies and have access to chemists and manufacturing product experts. It’s never as easy as it appears.

As a former Director of Operations and a licensed Customs Broker, I understand how difficult it can be to stay on top of changes in the regulations that surround import compliance. The proliferation of trade preference programs offer savings opportunities but require a company to accept significant responsibilities which can be difficult to manage.  All of these programs have a foundation in the accurate classification of imported products.

The world of international trade is a complex one, with numerous governmental agencies overseeing any one transaction. As professional trade consultants, we get that regulations are constantly evolving. It can be hard to stay on top of it all. With this in mind, we are launching our new blog – TradeLane.

Under Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), companies are able to reduce their duty liability on qualifying goods sourced in FTA countries. This might seem like a simple undertaking until you take into account everything that must be done to benefit from continued lower duty costs under an FTA.

The US government offers businesses the opportunity to recoup the duties they pay on imported goods that are taxed, subsequently exported, and taxed again. An astonishing estimate of $2.5 billion of those monies is unclaimed by businesses eligible for duty drawback.

The basics of a drawback program may appear straightforward, but the complexities of drawback reveal the true potential for significant duty recovery. It is worth taking the time to look when the payback has so much potential.