Commercial hand carries are classified as imports or exports and therefore necessitate the same compliance reviews as items shipped in standard packaging. Does your organization engage in the hand-carrying of commercial items for import or export? If so, do you have a formal policy or procedure in place to ensure compliance with relevant regulations? In…
Regulatory Blast – Drinking from a Firehose! The recent regulatory landscape is ever changing. In fact, I am finding it hard to stay up to date – and I am what some may say “experienced”! The other day, I told a colleague that I had not had an easy question to answer that week! In…
Complying with export regulations can be hard! Knowing where to find the regulations, how to interpret them and apply them to your business in a constantly dynamic and changing environment is challenging to say the least; not to mention that regulations are not static. This means what was okay last week, may not be okay…
In 1789 Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, “… in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”. Nothing rings truer than when you are trying to import merchandise from another country. If you don’t get all the elements correct for an import entry, you might…
Spoiler Alert – Similar but Different As a U.S. importer or exporter, we are required to comply with specific regulations. For defense articles, we are regulated by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), for dual-use and commercial items, we must comply with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), and for importing into the U.S., we…
The game of deception is a bad guy’s favorite game. The lengths of trouble that these people will go to in order to violate the law is extraordinary. Whether it is firearms, drugs or even money, their skills at trying to deceive U.S. Customs or BIS is quite astounding. I have witnessed some of their…
The U.S. government’s recent decision to increase Section 301 tariffs on certain Chinese imports is a significant development in the ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China. While aimed at addressing long-standing trade issues, these tariffs also raise concerns for importers who rely on Chinese goods. Understanding Section 301 Tariffs Section 301 of…
After over 15 years of maintaining the same fee structure for International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) registration, the U.S. State Department has proposed amendments to increase the fees required for Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) enrollment. As a reminder, the export regulations require registration for those engaged in manufacturing, exporting, temporarily importing, or brokering of…
In the world of international shipping and e-commerce, the term “Section 321” has gained significance, especially among those importing goods into the United States. Under this provision of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, shipments valued at $800 or less can enter the country duty-free and without formal entry requirements. However, the…
Two Russia-born U.S. citizens, Sergey Nefedov from Anchorage, Alaska, and Mark Shumovich from Bellevue, Washington, were arrested for allegedly operating a scheme to illegally export nearly half a million dollars’ worth of snowmachines and associated parts from the United States to Russia without the required export authorization and approvals through the company Absolut Auto Sales…