US importers should reconsider farming out customs paperwork, warns CargoTrans

US importers using ‘delivered duty-paid’ (DDP) shipping arrangements face increasing compliance and financial risks, as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) intensifies its scrutiny of foreign importers of record, according to CargoTrans.

Nunzio De Filippis, co-CEO, and Rennie Alston, director of trade compliance, warned that US buyers could face penalties, shipment seizures, and refused entries, even when the firm is not named as the importer of record.

During CargoTrans’s latest monthly Tariff Tea webinar, the executives said the post-Liberation Day rush towards DDP arrangements was beginning to reverse, as importers reconsidered the risks of handing control of customs formalities to overseas suppliers.

Under DDP, sellers assume responsibility for import clearance and associated duties. However, Mr Alston warned: “If you are the US consignee, if you are the US order party, if you are the instigator to the transaction, then you have culpability.”

This story was originally published by The Loadstar. Read the full story at The Loadstar →