Importer of Record in the GCC: A Structural Guide to Customs Compliance Across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain
As tariff volatility and tightening enforcement reshape Western trade lanes, more multinational shippers are looking to the Gulf. The six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council are investing heavily in technology, infrastructure, healthcare, and energy, and demand for compliant import structures across the region has risen sharply. But the GCC is not a single market […]
Importer of Record for Data Centre Equipment: Clearing Transformers, Cooling, and Power Hardware Against a Build Deadline
A data centre does not go live when the servers arrive. It goes live when the power and cooling are in place, and that is the equipment most likely to be stuck at a border. The transformers, switchgear, uninterruptible power supplies, chillers, and liquid-cooling systems that a facility runs on are heavy, high in value, […]
The EU De Minimis Importer of Record Problem: Why Parcels Without a Declarant Will Be Returned From 1 July 2026
Updated 13 October 2026. Both changes covered here are live. The EU’s temporary €3 customs duty has applied since 1 July 2026, and the Commission has confirmed a €2 Union handling fee from 1 November 2026. In France, non-EU importers can no longer use a one-off fiscal representative under Regime 42. Most coverage of the […]
Importer of Record for Aerospace and Defence: Cross-Border Compliance for Controlled and High-Value Components
In aerospace and defence, a single grounded component can stop an entire programme. An aircraft on the ground waiting for a part, an AOG situation, burns money by the hour, and a defence contractor that misses a delivery milestone risks the contract behind it. The parts themselves are rarely simple to move: many are export-controlled, […]
Section 122 Has Expired: What Importers Who Paid the Surcharge Should Do About Refunds
The Section 122 tariffs expired at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on 24 July 2026, at the end of their 150-day statutory life, and Congress did not extend them. At the same moment, a new Section 301 action on forced labour took effect and replaced them for most origins, so the expiry did not bring the […]
When a Medical Device Is Stuck at Customs, a Patient Is Waiting: A Guide to the Importer of Record for Medical Devices
Somewhere right now, a hospital biomedical team is checking a tracking number for the third time that morning. The analyser they need is in the country. It cleared the airport. And it is going nowhere, because the health authority will not release it until a registration detail is resolved, and that could take days. A […]
USMCA Review July 2026: How the Three North American Tariff Deadlines Resolved, and Where Importers Stand Now
Through the first half of 2026, three North American trade deadlines were converging within weeks of each other, and together they threatened to reprice duty exposure across the US, Canada, and Mexico corridor. All three have now passed. The USMCA review 2026 took place on 1 July, Canada’s steel and aluminium remissions faced a 30 […]
Importer of Record for AI Servers and GPU Clusters: Country-by-Country Compliance for Data Centre Deployments
Deploying AI infrastructure across multiple countries is one of the most demanding import challenges in logistics today. A GPU cluster bound for a data centre is high in value, tight on timeline, heavy on regulation, and often headed to several countries at once under a single deployment programme. Each destination has its own import rules, […]
How to Choose an Importer of Record: The Checks That Separate a Real Provider From a Liability
Choosing an Importer of Record is one of the few procurement decisions where the cheapest option can quietly become the most expensive. The IOR is the legal entity that takes responsibility for your goods at the border, pays the duties, files the entry, and stands accountable to the customs authority for the accuracy of everything […]
Brazil Section 301 Tariff 2026: The 25% Duty Is Live, Where It Hits, and Where to Go Instead
The Brazil Section 301 tariff 2026 is live. Since 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on 22 July 2026, a 25% additional ad valorem duty has applied to most products of Brazil under HTSUS heading 9903.05.01. This is no longer a proposal or a comment window: it is a duty CBP is collecting right now. So the […]