Customs

The tooling you paid for, the fabric you shipped to the factory, the drawings your overseas studio produced: whatever the buyer supplies free to the producer is dutiable. The four assist categories, how to value them, the three apportionment methods, and the design exception that depends on where the work was done.

When a trading company sits between the factory and the importer, US Customs will still accept the factory price as the dutiable value — the EU, the UK and India will not. What the Nissho Iwai test actually demands, why the real obstacle is commercial, and three worked cases in dollars, sterling and rupees.

A buying commission is the only Art. 8.1(a)(i) line that takes money out of the dutiable base — which is precisely why it is the most audited. The five tells that turn an agent into a seller, the paperwork failure that makes the exclusion unclaimable, and three worked cases in $ and rupees.

A trademark or patent royalty is not just an operating expense. If the goods cannot be bought without it, it belongs in the customs value. The CBP three-question test, the Indian Ferodo line, apportionment, and how to declare a fee you do not yet know.

Being related does not make your invoice unacceptable — you have to show the relationship did not influence the price. Circumstances-of-sale test, test values, CBP Reconciliation, first sale for export and India's SVB, with worked numbers.

Outward processing lets you send goods abroad for repair, assembly or processing and pay import duty only on the value added outside your customs territory. HTSUS 9802.00.50/.60/.80 in the US, Outward Processing Relief in the UK, re-import notifications in India — plus the Section 301 trap and three worked examples in dollars.

End-use is the only customs mechanism where the rate depends on the use, not the nature, of the goods. How EU end-use, US actual-use provisions (19 CFR 10.131), UK Authorised Use and India IGCR 2022 work — declarations, bonds, use windows, proof of use, and what happens on diversion. Three worked examples in USD.

Temporary admission is a customs procedure, not just an ATA carnet. Total vs partial relief at 3% per month, US Temporary Importation under Bond, UK TA, India section 74 drawback, bond sizing and the VAT trap. Three worked examples in $ and £.

An unsellable shipment often costs more to clear than to destroy. Voluntary abandonment, destruction under supervision, export — plus the 99% destruction drawback under 19 U.S.C. § 1313(j). US, UK and India deadlines compared, with worked examples in dollars.

Between discharge and entry, cargo sits in temporary storage — not imported, not in transit, not yours to move. The EU allows 90 days; US Customs allows 15 before General Order. Deadlines by jurisdiction, the split with bonded warehousing, real cost math in dollars, and how to get out before the deadline.

A power of attorney does not move liability. How the US importer-of-record model, EU direct/indirect representation, UK post-Brexit rules and India CBLR 2018 allocate the customs debt — with a comparison table and three worked examples in dollars.

Continuous vs single transaction bonds, the 10% / $50,000 formula, UK comprehensive guarantees and waivers, India triple duty bonds and AEO relief. How the amount is calculated, what it costs, and how to shrink it legally — with three worked examples.