PrintCommercial merchandise cannot legally enter the United States until the U.S. Customs Service authorizes it. When goods arrive at the border, an entry action must be filed, and cargo may be examined at the request of a customs agent. If entry isn't made within five days (because of insufficient documentation), customs may store the goods for up to a year at the importer's expense. If goods remain unclaimed, the Customs Service auctions them off.
To avoid meeting this fate — and to simplify the complex task of importing — most companies use third parties to handle the numerous details involved in importing. Increasingly, these details are automated or electronic. The most commonly used third parties are:
- Customhouse brokers, who handle documentation but not shipping
- Shippers who consolidate freight from several companies to make full container loads, thereby reducing shipping costs, known in shipping lingo as NVOs (Non-Vessel Operators)
- Freight forwarders, who handle documentation and shipping both domestically and internationally
Duties and Classifications
Customs levies taxes on imported merchandise. The taxes are known as "duties" and are determined primarily by the classification and value of the merchandise. Duties depend on either the value or the quantity of the merchandise. They also depend on the merchandise's tariff classification, listed among the nearly 17,000 classifications in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. You can buy the complete tariff schedule from the U.S. Government Printing Office.
There are three types of duties:
- Ad valorem, which is a percentage of the merchandise value (e.g., 5 percent ad valorem)
- Specific, which is a specified amount per unit measure
- Compound, consisting of an ad valorem and a specific rate
An additional anti-dumping duty is assessed on merchandise the International Trade Commission finds to be imported for less than reasonable market value, which is injurious to U.S. industries.
