Duty, admissibility, and marking all flow from one number: the 10-digit HTS code. Get the heading wrong and the duty rate is wrong, the entry summary is wrong, and any exclusion or trade remedy that turns on the code is wrong with it. A broker who files without checking the classification is filing a guess, and the importer pays for the guess.
The check runs through the General Rules of Interpretation in order, heading terms first, then section and chapter notes, then essential character where two headings fit. Where the answer is genuinely close, the broker should look for a binding ruling in the CROSS database before filing, not after CBP asks. A ruling costs time up front and saves a protest later. The broker's job is to bring the doubt to the importer before transmission, when it is still cheap to fix.
Transaction value is the price actually paid or payable for the goods sold for export to the United States, and it is the starting point for nearly every entry. But the invoice price is not the customs value until the statutory additions are accounted for: packing costs incurred by the buyer, selling commissions incurred by the buyer, and the apportioned value of any assist, such as tools, molds, or design work supplied free or at reduced cost.
The broker should also flag related-party pricing. When buyer and seller are connected, by 5 percent or more of voting stock, by family, or by common control, CBP asks whether the relationship influenced the price. If the broker spots the flag and the importer has no test value or circumstances-of-sale evidence ready, the entry should wait. Filing a related-party price with no support invites CBP to reject transaction value and work down the valuation ladder.
An entry needs four things before it is transmitted: a commercial invoice, a packing list, a power of attorney authorizing the broker under 19 CFR Part 111, and a bond covering the entry. The invoice must show the price actually paid or payable and describe the goods well enough to classify them. The packing list must match the invoice on quantities. The bond must be in force, continuous or single-transaction, in an amount that covers the duties at stake.
The entry summary on CBP Form 7501 follows within 10 working days of release, with the final duty calculation. The broker files it, but the importer should read it. Block 39 carries the merchandise processing fee, the duty lines carry the classification, and any error there becomes the record CBP liquidates against. A broker who sends the 7501 for review before filing it is doing the job. One who files it blind is a risk the importer is paying to carry.
Keep reading: Customs Bonds: Single Entry vs Continuous, and When Each Pays, Section 301 Exclusions: How to Check If Your Product Qualifies.
You do. The importer of record carries the reasonable care duty under 19 USC 1484, and a broker's error does not transfer it. CBP can assess penalties against the importer for a misclassified or misvalued entry even when the broker prepared it. Choose the broker carefully, but verify the entry yourself.
A power of attorney authorizes a licensed customs broker to act on your behalf with CBP, under 19 CFR Part 111. It is the document that lets the broker file entries, pay duties, and receive notices for you. Without a valid POA on file, the broker cannot legally transact business for you, and CBP will not accept the filing.
Reasonable care, under the 1993 Modernization Act, means taking the steps a prudent importer would take: classify correctly using the General Rules of Interpretation, value correctly under 19 USC 1401a, mark the goods with the correct country of origin, and keep the records that prove all three for five years. It is a standard, not a checklist, and CBP judges it by what you did before the entry, not by what you say after.
The entry summary, CBP Form 7501, is due within 10 working days of the release of the merchandise. The entry itself is filed first, usually before or at arrival, and the summary follows with the final duty calculation. Missing the 10-day window draws liquidated damages against the bond, which is a penalty for lateness, not for error.