Wanna Save a Few Dollars?

If your tax preparing came to you and said “I know a way that you can pay less in taxes” would you likely ask them if what they were suggesting was legal? Of course you would, so why would you listen to a supplier or freight forwarder or customs broker who made a suggestion like that to you without first asking them “is this legal?

With the imposition of additional duty on products from China I’ve heard stories of “helpful” companies giving advice to U.S. importers that was shaky at best and even possibly illegal. You wouldn’t believe the stories of heard from “why don’t you just fudge on the cost of the goods on the commercial invoice” or “why don’t we ship the goods to Vietnam, relabel them, then ship them to the U.S.” I even heard from several importers who were being told to have their goods shipped from China to Canada, broken down into smaller parcels then shipped to the U.S. to avoid the 25% China duty.

One word – actually four words – JUST DON’T DO IT! When something sounds too good to be true it usually is and U.S. Customs (CBP) is aware of many of these illegal schemes and has already caught companies trying to beat the system. Not only are those importers subject to penalties they can also face criminal prosecution! BEWARE!

Now I will say that there are LEGAL steps you can take in some cases to reduce your duty exposure and we have a lot of experience in helping customers legally reduce costs. Recently I’ve helped several customers recover over $500,000 in duty LEGALLY and while I can’t promise that to every importer I can offer you a FREE phone consultation to see what savings your company might enjoy. We’re here to help, email us today at info@tradelogicintl.com.