#customs
U.S. Customs and Border Protection compliance, HTS classification, entry procedures, broker relationships, and importer of record responsibilities
As of July 9, 2026, Etsy requires non-US sellers shipping to US buyers to use Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) — prepaying US tariffs and building them into the listing price — or lose Purchase Protection. This guide covers re-pricing by tariff category and why prepaid duties belong in inventory cost and COGS, not overhead.
A presidential proclamation effective April 6, 2026 (updated June 8, 2026) now applies Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper derivatives to a product's full customs value instead of just its metal content, pushing rates as high as 50% on the entire declared value.
U.S. duty drawback refunds up to 99% of import duties when goods are re-exported or destroyed, and claims can reach back five years. Here's which tariffs qualify (Section 301, the 2026 Section 122 surcharge), which don't (Section 232), and the import records CBP requires to approve a claim.
Starting July 1, 2026, the EU replaces its €150 duty-free threshold with a flat €3-per-item customs duty on distance sales, so a three-item EU order with distinct HS codes can owe €9 in duty on top of VAT — here's what US sellers need to audit before the deadline.
The USMCA's mandatory six-year joint review began July 1, 2026, giving the US, Mexico, and Canada until 2036 to decide whether to extend the agreement—small businesses claiming preferential tariff treatment should audit certificates of origin now, since a paperwork gap can be treated as customs fraud during heightened review-period scrutiny.
Under 19 CFR 111.29, customs brokers must book client duty payments as liabilities, remit funds to CBP within five working days, and furnish a written accounting statement within 60 calendar days — a discipline that also protects duty drawback claims, which can recover up to 99% of duties paid on later-exported goods.
CBP's CAPE portal lets importers of record file for IEEPA tariff refunds on entries filed between February 2025 and February 2026, with Phase 1 covering roughly 63% of affected entries and refunds targeted within 45 to 90 days plus accrued interest.
A practical guide for Shopify and Amazon FBA sellers on rebuilding landed cost, pricing, and bookkeeping after the May and August 2025 suspensions of the Section 321 de minimis exemption, with line-by-line duty math, entry-type tradeoffs, and cash-flow tactics.
How wine and spirits importers and beverage distributors build defensible books—segregating bonded vs. tax-paid inventory, accruing CBMA excise tax refunds under ASC 450, remeasuring foreign-currency payables under ASC 830, reconciling TTB Form 5000.24 to the general ledger, and tracking the cases-per-rep, depletion rate, and gross-profit-per-case KPIs the industry actually lives by.
How the 10-digit Harmonized Tariff Schedule, Chapter 99 add-ons, and Section 301 layers assign legal duty liability to the importer of record—not the broker—and how a prior disclosure under 19 U.S.C. § 1592(c)(4) can cap penalties at interest if you find errors before CBP audits.
