Section 122 Tariffs Survive on Appeal: Why Importers Are Still Paying a Duty a Court Called Unlawful
Importers are now in an unusual and expensive position. On 11 June 2026, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stayed a lower court ruling that had struck down the Section 122 tariffs, which means the government can continue collecting the surcharge on most imports while it appeals. The surcharge was introduced at […]
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 and the 1 July Tariff Cliff: What North American Importers Must Do Before the Deadline
Two major North American trade deadlines are converging within days of each other, and together they reshape the duty exposure of any company importing across the US, Canada, and Mexico corridor. The USMCA review 2026 is scheduled for July, the first joint review of its kind in any US free trade agreement, and it puts […]
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: USTR Proposes 25% Duty With a July 1 Deadline Every US Importer Must Act On
On June 1, 2026, the Office of the United States Trade Representative determined that a range of Brazil’s trade practices are actionable under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, and proposed a 25% tariff on goods of Brazil in response. The proposal is not yet final. It is open for public comment until […]
How Much Does an Importer of Record Cost? A 2026 Pricing Guide for IT Hardware and Regulated Goods
Procurement teams evaluating Importer of Record services immediately encounter a universal friction point: opaque pricing. One provider quotes a flat fee per shipment, another a percentage of shipment value, a third asks for your shipping details before saying anything at all. This is not because providers are hiding the ball. It is because importer of […]
Customs Enforcement Executive Order 2026: New IOR Bond and Vetting Rules Every US Importer Must Act On
On June 3, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Strengthening Customs Enforcement” that rewrites the rules for every Importer of Record bringing goods into the United States. This is not a tariff. It is a structural overhaul of who is allowed to act as an IOR, what financial backing they must hold, how […]
US Imports from China Down 40.7%: The IOR and Compliance Gaps Nobody Is Mapping in the Shift to Vietnam, India and Mexico
US imports from China fell 40.7% in Q1 2026. The US Census Bureau confirmed that the US imported $60.87 billion from China through March 2026, down from $102.66 billion over the same period in 2025. China has dropped from America’s largest trading partner to its fourth largest, trailing Mexico, Canada, and Taiwan. In Q1, the […]
AI and Semiconductor Demand Is Squeezing Asia Air Cargo Capacity: What High-Tech Importers Must Do Now
Air cargo capacity across Asia’s major technology export hubs has been tightening steadily throughout 2026. The cause is a structural convergence: AI infrastructure investment has created a sustained surge in high-tech freight volumes from the same corridors: Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore. Jet fuel shortages jet fuel shortages linked to Middle East instability […]