How to Import Into a New Country Without Setting Up a Legal Entity
Every year, thousands of companies face the same question when expanding internationally: do we need to set up a local company before we can import? Most of them make the same assumption at the start: before we can import goods, we need to set up a local company. They spend three to six months on […]
Section 232 Full Customs Value 2026: The April Change That Rewrote Every Metal Importer’s Duty Bill
Update, 13 October 2026: CBP’s copper smelt-and-cast reporting took effect on 30 July 2026 for four copper wire and cable codes, and ACE has rejected entry summaries missing that data since 14 September. The refined copper decision is still pending, and the Section 122 surcharge referred to below expired on 24 July 2026. Update, 28 […]
US Port Strategy 2026: Why Importers Are Shifting Cargo From West Coast to Gulf and East Coast
Twenty years ago, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach handled 50% of all US container imports. By 2023 that share had fallen to 33%. By 2025, LA and Long Beach processed 10.1 million TEUs combined but their share of total US container traffic continued to erode as Houston, Savannah, Virginia, Charleston, and New […]
Trans-Pacific Freight Rates May 2026: Why Costs Are Up 37% and What Importers Must Do Now
The trans-Pacific freight rates May 2026 surge has pushed 33% to 37% month on month from April. A 40-foot container from China to a US West Coast port now costs between USD 3,015 and USD 3,685. A 20-foot container runs USD 2,475 to USD 3,025. Air freight to the US has firmed to USD 8.06 […]
How to Calculate Landed Cost: The Complete Guide for Every Importer
Every business that imports goods internationally needs to answer one question before it can make a sound procurement decision: what is the true total cost of getting these goods from the supplier’s factory to my warehouse? The answer is the landed cost, and knowing how to calculate it is the foundation of every profitable import […]
EU Mercosur Trade Agreement 2026: The Complete Importer’s Guide to What Changed on May 1
After 25 years of negotiations, the EU Mercosur trade agreement 2026 is no longer a future event. On January 17, 2026, the European Union and the Mercosur countries, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, signed both the EU-Mercosur Partnership Agreement and the Interim Trade Agreement. On May 1, 2026, the Interim Trade Agreement began provisional application. […]
First Sale for Export: The Complete Guide to Reducing US Import Duty Through Customs Valuation
Many US importers with multi-tier supply chains may be paying higher duty than necessary because they have not evaluated a valuation method that has been available under US customs law since 1980 and that has been used by large importers to reduce their dutiable value since the Federal Circuit Court confirmed it in 1992. It […]
The Section 122 Tariff: What It Was, What You Can Still Recover, and What Replaced It
The Section 122 tariff was a 10% surcharge on almost all US imports that ran for exactly 150 days, from 24 February to 24 July 2026, and then expired by operation of law. For the five months it was in force it was the single largest variable in the landed cost of importing into the […]
EU Air Cargo Security 2026: What Every Exporter and Freight Forwarder Must Know About the New Rules
EU Regulation 2025/920 became applicable from 1 September 2025 across every EU member state, introducing the most significant structural change to EU air cargo security in over a decade. The regulation introduced a new Established Business Relationship requirement that fundamentally changed the rules under which regulated agents can accept cargo as secure. It introduced new […]
Reduce Import Duty Japan: The Complete Guide for Every Importer in 2026
Japan operates the most extensive free trade agreement network of any major Asian economy. As of December 2025, Japan is a signatory to 20 active FTAs and Economic Partnership Agreements covering virtually every major trading partner in Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Americas. Yet a significant proportion of businesses that want to reduce import duty […]