U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has released CSMS #52834229 announcing an increase in the Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) minimum and maximum amounts. The MPF is a fee imposed by CBP for the majority of imported goods to the US collected to help process merchandise and monitor Customs trade compliance.

If your company is involved in importing goods into the United States, you may be aware that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employs audits. Have you ever wondered what these audits are all about – what purposes an audit serves, what factors may increase the risk for an audit, and how to get prepared for one?

Importers of Record (IOR) are required by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Customs Modernization Act (Mod Act) to have proper records on file for all import shipments into the territory of the United States. This publication outlines necessary steps for importers to ensure compliance with CBP's documentation requests for any shipment.

Will the new updates to the 2022 HTSUS impact you that will be going into effect on January 27th, 2022? Every 5-6 years the WCO updates the HTSUS to conform to the new developments in technology and any changes in trade patterns. This will be the 7th edition of the HS that will go into effect on January 27th, 2022, which will bring sweeping changes to how the international trade community classifies their products.

The US Commerce Department has implemented a new reporting program for imports of some aluminum products. The Aluminum Import Monitoring and Analysis System, or AIM, will require additional data elements to be reported. We must now declare the country of largest smelt, country of second largest smelt (if any), and country of most recent cast.

The Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program expired at the end of 2020 leaving the duty-free treatment of certain US imports from developing countries in limbo. Congress could renew the legislation reinstating regulations retroactively, though that action would have to be specifically addressed in the reauthorization.