The customs duties suddenly became a greatly troublesome feature of the American economic scene, which increases supply chains and the threat of consumers with a new wave of inflation. But even with the definitions to control the main headlines, most people will struggle to explain how exactly work in practice. How exactly follow American companies? How do companies know how much they condemn them? The answer is that the process is not easy and requires companies to know their way about the 18-sized book with thousands of rules-while bonds also publish more than $ 50,000 and use special programs.
To get an idea about how to collect customs tariffs in practice, luck He spoke with customs brokers and legal experts to learn what is happening after the White House announced a new tariff. Below is a basic overview of the process.
How does the American company know when it must pay a tariff?
Definitions only apply to imports from other countries. This means that all goods that reach American ports, land border crossings, or airports are subject to possible fees when they enter the country.
Until this year, the customs tariff did not apply to many countries – including Australia, Israel and Costa Rica – because they enjoyed free trade deals. Now, during the era of President Donald Trump, they are advancing to every country, although some goods from Canada and Mexico are still exempt.
How does the company know the amount of payment?
This depends on both the good and the country from which it comes. People in import works depend on the 18 -sized book that tells all of this based on an international classification system known as the woven tariff schedule.
This information can also be found on the United States government website https://hts.usitc.gov/Including a list of most 10 numbers that work as a reduction. It is not always easy to decode it. For example, Gritchen Blough, a manager at Customs Broker Logistics Plus, says, for example, that computers are classified as “automatic processing machines”.
Then companies use these symbols to report what they import to customs and protect the American border, using a software system called “ACE).
What if well -known goods are made of different things?
This is where it becomes difficult. If good is assembled with parts of all parts, customs usually apply one tariff based on the place that provides its “basic character”. For example, in 2022, the agency said that a fish smoker that contains components of five countries should receive a specific tariff to Türkiye, which presented a wooden shelf that this basic character gave.
But some goods may be subject to more than one tariff. This is the case if there is a special material – such as steel – is distinguished by a special rate.
How do companies continue when the tariff rules continue to change?
It is not easy. In the past, an American commercial official will announce the change of customs tariffs, and will enter into force when it is published in the official federal registry, along with a fact newspaper on the website of the Ministry of Commerce. Recently, the process was more random as President Trump has implemented changes through the executive order.
According to Blough, Trump’s unpredictable ads forced importers to search for the White House site or even rely on news reports to try to know the tariff prices that apply to a specific day.
How is a small company to do all of this?
Most of the time do not do it. Instead, they rely on customized brokers like Logistics Plus or Livingston – as UPS and FEDEX offer this service – to deal with tracking and papers for a fee. Some companies may do this at home but most of them depend on third -party services, which do not play a practical role when it comes to goods.
“The mediator will never see the goods, especially on this day and this era. On the old days, someone will sit on the border and meet the drivers and their file.”
What was the publication of a bond?
Companies that are imported on a regular basis will get a permanent account from which customs will withdraw customs tariff payments, and they are usually launched 10 days after the launch of the goods. This arrangement makes the process go more smoothly, but, to use it, the company will have to spread a bond in the absence of enough money in its account.
The minimum bond is $ 50,000, but many companies will have to publish much more because the amount depends on 10 % of the duties they paid in the past 12 months. For companies that import basic commodity shipments, including oil and gas, the bond can be millions of dollars. Nevertheless, companies usually do not publish all this guarantee themselves – and that pay fees to serve a third party guarantee to do so for them.
What happens if the company erred in the customs tariff?
If customs discovered that a company or a dedicated broker is wrong in the customs tariff rate – then the agency has up to 300 days to review a specific transaction – you will require the company to pay any deficiency. If the agency concludes that the error was deliberate, it may impose a series of sanctions.
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
