The First Sale Rule: How Importers Who Buy Through Middlemen Can Legally Pay Less in Tariffs
Importers buying via a middleman can declare the factory's first-sale price to U.S. Customs and cut duties 10–20%, if every tier is documented.
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Customs
U.S. Customs and Border Protection compliance, HTS classification, entry procedures, broker relationships, and importer of record responsibilities
Honduras' 2026 Tax Amnesty and RIT Extension: What Small Businesses Should Know
Honduras waives penalties on tax arrears through 2025 if paid by October 12, 2026 — and extends RIT duty-free imports five years for exporters.
CBP Started Voiding Importer of Record Numbers Today: Check Your Form 5106 Before Your Next Shipment Stops
CBP voids importer of record numbers immediately when Form 5106 data is inaccurate - no cure period. Verify your physical address, email, and phone now.
Who Pays the Tariff? How Incoterms 2020 (EXW, DAP, DDP) Decide Whether You or Your Supplier Eats the Duty
Under Incoterms 2020, DDP is the only rule where the seller pays import duties — under EXW, DAP, and every other term, the buyer absorbs each tariff change. This guide maps how each term allocates duty risk, why suppliers are shifting from DDP to DAP, and how to capitalize duties into landed cost under ASC 330.
Customs Bonds for New Importers: When a Single-Entry Bond Beats a Continuous Bond
A U.S. continuous customs bond must be at least $50,000 or 10% of the prior year's duties, taxes, and fees, whichever is greater, while a single-entry bond equals shipment value plus estimated duties and fees. This guide shows where the break-even falls (about four entries a year), why ocean freight needs a separate ISF bond, and how to book duties, MPF, HMF, and bond premiums as landed cost.
Etsy's New France Import Fee, Explained: What the End of Duty-Free EU Parcels Means for Your Prices and Your Books
The EU ended duty-free entry for parcels under €150 on July 1, 2026, France charges €2 per item type, and an EU-wide handling fee of about €2 per parcel arrives in November — Etsy collects the France fee at checkout but not the €3 duty. Here is what each fee costs on a real order and how to book pass-through fees, prepaid duties, and IOSS VAT correctly.
Foreign Trade Zones for Small Importers: Defer Duties, File Weekly, and Fix Inverted Tariffs
A Foreign Trade Zone defers duties until goods enter U.S. commerce, consolidates a week of shipments into a single Merchandise Processing Fee (capped at $651.50 for FY 2026 rather than charged per entry), and — with FTZ Board authorization — lets you elect the lower finished-good rate when component tariffs are inverted. Small importers reach all three as users of a 3PL magnet site, without activating a zone of their own.
Furniture and Cabinet Tariffs Rise to 50% in 2027: A Retailer's Guide to Repricing Inventory Before the Hike
Section 232 duties on imported kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities double from 25% to 50% on January 1, 2027, and upholstered furniture rises to 30%. This guide walks retailers through per-SKU landed-cost math, classification review, supplier renegotiation, tiered price architecture, and the UNICAP rule that capitalizes duty into inventory so a pre-buy hits cash before it hits the deduction.
Etsy's DDP Mandate Is Here: A Landed-Cost Bookkeeping Guide for Non-US Sellers
Since July 9, 2026, Etsy requires non-US sellers to ship to US buyers under Delivered Duty Paid (DDP), making the seller responsible for import duties now that the US de minimis exemption is gone. This guide covers what DDP actually costs (the tariff plus 15–17 dollar carrier clearance fees), how to rebuild landed cost per listing, and how to book and reconcile embedded versus actual duties every month.
Demurrage and Detention Invoice Controls: A 30-Day Checklist for Importers Before Paying Port Charges
Nine major ocean carriers collected roughly $15.4 billion in detention and demurrage charges between April 2020 and March 2025. This checklist explains what the FMC's 46 CFR Part 541 billing rule requires on every invoice, the five controls to run before approving a port charge, and a 30-day workflow for disputing questionable fees and recording accepted versus disputed amounts in your books.
Your 10% Surcharge Expired on July 24 — But Your Books Didn't: A Small Importer's Guide to the Section 122 Sunset and the $23.7 Billion in IEEPA Refunds
The 10% Section 122 surcharge expired July 24, 2026 after 150 days and was replaced by 10-12.5% Section 301 duties; CBP's CAPE portal has already paid $23.7 billion of an estimated $166 billion in IEEPA refunds — learn how to re-model landed cost per SKU, track entry-level recoveries, and avoid booking refunds as income too early.
Brazil Just Got a 50% Tariff: What Small Importers of Coffee, Beef, and Steel Need to Know About Product Exclusions
A July 30 IEEPA order adds 40% to Brazilian goods on top of the 10% reciprocal tariff for a total 50% above MFN from August 6. Orange juice, Brazil nuts, and pig iron are excluded via Annex I, while steel and aluminum are excluded from the Brazil addition because Section 232 already applies — coffee and beef are not excluded. Here's the entry-date, FTZ, and bookkeeping checklist for small importers.