Import Without Borders, Compliant Every Shipment

When goods cross an international border, customs authorities require a named entity that is legally responsible for ensuring imports comply with local regulations, pay applicable duties, and carry the correct documentation. This entity is the Importer of Record. For e-commerce sellers expanding into new markets without a locally registered legal entity, the absence of an IOR means shipments will be refused entry or held indefinitely at the border. Our IOR service provides you with a pre-established, licensed importing entity in each destination country that handles all regulatory obligations on your behalf. This eliminates the need to incorporate a local company, hire customs staff, or navigate the regulatory complexity of each new market you enter.

Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification determines how much duty you pay on every import. Incorrect classification is extremely common among e-commerce sellers who classify products themselves or rely on generic descriptions, resulting in significant overpayments or, worse, underpayments that trigger penalties and back-duty assessments during CBP audits. Our classification specialists analyze each product's composition, function, intended use, and applicable trade agreement eligibility to assign the most accurate and advantageous HTS code. We then identify applicable duty reduction programs including First Sale valuation, duty drawback, free trade agreement preferential rates, and Section 321 de minimis thresholds that can dramatically reduce your landed cost per unit. Post-entry audit services recover overpaid duties from previous shipments classified incorrectly. We review your import history, identify classification errors, and file post-summary corrections with CBP to recover refunds that many sellers leave unclaimed.

International trade compliance demands meticulous documentation that remains auditable for five to seven years depending on jurisdiction. Commercial invoices, packing lists, certificates of origin, bills of lading, and regulatory permits must be accurate, internally consistent, and formatted to the standards of each destination country's customs authority. Our documentation team prepares and reviews every trade document in your import file, ensuring all information aligns across documents and meets the specific formatting requirements of each market. We maintain a centralized compliance archive for all your import transactions, providing instant access to records during marketplace compliance requests, regulatory inquiries, or CBP audits. This systematic record-keeping infrastructure protects you from penalties associated with missing or inconsistent trade documentation, and it simplifies the due diligence process when your business undergoes financing, acquisition, or expansion reviews.

Import compliance is not a one-time setup. It requires continuous monitoring of regulatory changes, trade policy shifts, and marketplace requirements that affect your specific product categories and shipping lanes. Our ongoing program management service keeps your import operations current with every relevant change, from new documentation requirements introduced by customs authorities to duty rate adjustments driven by trade disputes or new free trade agreements. We conduct quarterly import compliance reviews that assess your current HTS classifications against updated tariff schedules, review your duty spend for additional optimization opportunities, and evaluate whether new trade agreements or duty reduction programs have become applicable since your last review. Annual trade compliance audits provide a comprehensive assessment of your import program, identifying any gaps between your current practices and best-in-class compliance standards.