Services
Everything between the port and your dock
Six service lines, one licensed team. Whether you need a single entry filed or a full import compliance program built from scratch, the work below is what we do every day.
01 — Customs Entry & Clearance
Entries filed right, filed early
We transmit formal and informal entries through the Automated Broker Interface into ACE, at any U.S. port of entry. Our national permit lets us file your entries electronically for any port, so you are never forced to change brokers because your cargo routes somewhere new.
- Type 01 consumption, Type 11 informal, Type 03 antidumping/countervailing, Type 06 FTZ and Type 23 TIB entries
- Pre-arrival filing — entry may be presented up to five days before arrival
- HTS classification and duty, tax and fee calculation before the vessel lands
- Ocean, air, truck and rail; FCL, LCL, consolidations and Section 321 de minimis
- Entry summary (CBP Form 7501) filing and duty payment via ACH or Periodic Monthly Statement
- Exam and hold management — CET, VACIS, intensive and agency holds worked directly with the port
What we need from you
- Commercial invoice
- Packing list
- Bill of lading or air waybill
- Arrival notice from the carrier
- Any agency-specific certificates (FDA, USDA, FCC, DOT, etc.)
- Preference claims — USMCA certification, GSP or FTA documentation
Send us your documents as soon as your supplier issues them. Earlier documents mean earlier release — and no per-diem or demurrage. Get in touch and we will set up the handover.
The ten ISF-10 data elements
- Seller
- Buyer
- Importer of record number
- Consignee
- Manufacturer / supplier
- Ship-to party
- Country of origin
- HTSUS number (6-digit)
- Container stuffing location
- Consolidator / stuffer
Plus two carrier elements: the vessel stow plan and container status messages. Hence “10+2.” ISF-5 applies to FROB, IE and T&E cargo.
02 — Importer Security Filing
Filed before lading, not before arrival
The 24-hour rule is the deadline importers miss most often, and CBP enforces it with liquidated damages of up to $5,000 per violation. Most ISF trouble starts upstream, so we work directly with your suppliers to get the data in early and accurately.
- We chase the data. With your authorization we go direct to your suppliers and forwarders for the elements they hold.
- Bulk and flexible filings. ISF-10 for cargo entering U.S. commerce, ISF-5 for freight remaining on board, immediate export and transportation-and-export moves.
- Amendments before arrival. Elements that change — and they do — get updated before the vessel arrives, which is when accuracy is measured.
- Bond coverage confirmed. Continuous bonds cover ISF liability; if you file on a single-transaction basis we place an ISF bond.
- Match rate monitored. Unmatched filings become CBP’s problem list. We reconcile ISF against the bill of lading so yours are not on it.
03 — In-Bond & Transportation
Moving cargo before it is entered
In-bond transportation lets cargo travel under CBP custody without duty being paid at the port of arrival — to an inland port, a bonded warehouse, a Foreign Trade Zone, or straight back out of the country.
Immediate Transportation (IT)
Type 61. Moves arriving cargo from the port of unlading to another U.S. port, where entry is then filed. This is the move most importers use to get cargo inland before entry is filed.
Transportation & Exportation (T&E)
Type 62. Cargo transits the United States under bond and is exported from a different port. Common for Canada- and Mexico-bound freight.
Immediate Exportation (IE)
Type 63. Cargo is exported from the same port where it arrived, without entering U.S. commerce.
What we handle
- CBP Form 7512 preparation and electronic in-bond transmission through ACE
- Arrival and export reporting within the regulatory windows — the step that most often gets missed
- Bonded warehouse and Foreign Trade Zone admissions, including e214 filing
- Diversions, extensions and in-bond amendments
- Reconciliation of open in-bonds so movements do not age into liquidated damages
The 2017 in-bond rule still bites
Since CBP’s in-bond modernization, transit times are capped at 30 days for most movements, arrival must be reported within two business days, and every in-bond must be filed electronically. Open, unreported in-bonds generate liquidated damages against the bond that carried them.
We audit open in-bonds weekly for our clients. If you have movements you cannot account for, we can help you reconcile them.
04 — Partner Government Agencies
CBP is rarely the only agency involved
More than forty federal agencies have a say in what crosses the border. Their data sets transmit with your entry through the ACE Single Window — and if one is wrong, the shipment does not move.
FDA
Food, drugs, devices, cosmetics, radiation-emitting products
Prior Notice filing, FDA product codes, affirmations of compliance, registration and listing verification, and response to FDA holds, sampling and detention notices.
USDA / APHIS
Plants, animals, wood packaging, agricultural products
Lacey Act declarations, phytosanitary certificate review, permit verification and APHIS core message sets.
EPA
Vehicles, engines, chemicals, ozone-depleting substances
EPA 3520-1 and 3520-21 declarations, TSCA certification and pesticide (FIFRA) notices of arrival.
CPSC
Consumer products, children’s products, toys
Certificates of Compliance, eFiling of the CPSC message set, and testing documentation review before arrival.
DOT / NHTSA
Vehicles, tires, motor vehicle equipment
HS-7 declarations, FMVSS conformity documentation and registered importer coordination.
Fish & Wildlife, TTB, FCC, ATF
Wildlife products, alcohol, radio devices, controlled items
eDecs filing, federal permits and licences, COLA verification and device authorization records.
05 — Customs Bonds
The guarantee CBP requires before it releases anything
A customs bond is a three-party guarantee — you, a surety, and CBP — that duties, taxes and penalties will be paid. Almost nothing clears without one.
- Continuous bonds. Twelve months, all ports, all entries, plus ISF coverage. Sized at 10% of the prior year’s duties, taxes and fees, $50,000 minimum.
- Single-transaction bonds. Priced per shipment; the right choice for occasional imports and for goods subject to antidumping duties, where sureties often prefer them.
- ISF bonds. Standalone ISF coverage when you have no continuous bond in place.
- Specialty bonds. Custodial (bonded warehouse and cartman), international carrier, FTZ operator and temporary importation bonds.
- Sufficiency monitoring. We watch your duty run-rate so we can increase the bond before CBP declares it insufficient and stops your entries.
- Cargo insurance. We place marine and air cargo cover alongside your bond, so one team handles both sides of the risk.
Bond insufficiency is a stoppage, not a warning
When your twelve-month duty total pushes past the bond’s coverage, CBP issues an insufficiency notice and your entries stop being accepted — often at the worst possible moment. Tariff actions like Section 301 and Section 232 have pushed many importers past their bond limits without warning.
Quick sizing
Duties, taxes and fees paid in the last 12 months × 10%, rounded up to the nearest $10,000 (minimum $50,000). To size yours we need your tariff numbers, countries of origin and the value of goods you expect to import over twelve months. Not sure of your total? We can pull it from your ACE data.
Ask for a bond review06 — Trade Compliance Advisory
Reasonable care is a legal standard
Under 19 U.S.C. § 1484 the importer of record — not the broker — is responsible for the accuracy of every entry. Our job is to make sure you can demonstrate you exercised reasonable care, and to make sure you are not paying duty you do not owe.
Classification & rulings
HTS classification with written rationale, product database maintenance, and CBP binding ruling requests when the answer needs to be authoritative.
Valuation
Transaction value, assists, royalties, related-party pricing and first-sale analysis — the areas CBP audits most often.
Origin & free trade agreements
Substantial transformation analysis, USMCA qualification and certification, and marking requirements under 19 CFR 134.
Tariff exposure
Section 301 and Section 232 review, exclusion tracking, antidumping and countervailing duty scope analysis, and sourcing scenario modelling.
Duty recovery
Duty drawback, post-summary corrections, protests under 19 U.S.C. § 1514, and reconciliation entries where value is provisional.
Audits & disclosures
CF-28 and CF-29 responses, Focused Assessment support, prior disclosures under 19 U.S.C. § 1592, and internal compliance manuals.
Ready to move your freight through customs?
Send us your commercial invoice and packing list, or tell us about your import program. We’ll come back with a clear quote and a filing plan — usually the same business day.