Customs Laws & Regulations
Under the Customs Modernization Act (or the “Mod Act”) U.S. importers are responsible for ensuring that their imports of parts, components, materials and finished goods fully comply with the U.S. Customs laws and regulations.
This means that U.S. importers must exercise “reasonable care” in entering imported goods into the United States by filing accurate and complete documentation as to the proper value, tariff classification and applicable rate of duty in order to enable U.S. Customs and Border Protection to assess duties, collect accurate statistics, and determine whether other legal requirements have been met.
In addition, the Customs laws and regulations provide significant cost and duty-savings opportunities to U.S. importers that can drive down manufacturing costs, lower costs for U.S. consumers and give U.S. companies a competitive edge in the marketplace.
- Tariff classification
- Customs valuation (including First Sale Valuation)
- Country of origin and marking
- Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and special trade program product eligibility and compliance
- Antidumping and Countervailing Duties
- Duty deferral opportunities
- Design and implementation of effective import compliance programs
- Documented import compliance policies and procedures
- Internal audits and compliance assessments
- Customized in-house training
- Responses to inquiries and demands by U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- Assessment of potential import liability in due diligence investigations for mergers, acquisitions and divestitures
- Assistance with on-boarding and assimilation new business units post-closing
- Representation during all phases of investigations and enforcement actions including audits, prior disclosures, detentions, seizures, forfeitures, liquidated damages and penalty actions
- Preparation of binding customs rulings
- Importer Self-Assessment (application and ongoing compliance)
- Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT application and ongoing compliance)
- Customs requirements of non-U.S. jurisdictions
