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?

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.