US Customs wants more data and earlier filing for low-value imports

The US Customs & Border Protection Agency (CBP) wants more data and earlier filing of imports valued at $2,500 or less.

The compliance deadline for such imports arriving by mail has been pushed back three months, however, which prompted speculation that Washington wants to avoid further consumer cost inflation before the mid-term elections next month.

The new regime has two components. Low-value shipments that arrive as cargo will continue to be processed under entry type 11 requirements. For those reaching the US through the international postal network, CBP has created a new entry type category – 13.

These changes are part of the regulatory framework modifications to accommodate Washington’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ of last year that ushered in the end of de minimis exemption for imports valued below $800. It shifted customs processing to informal entry channels as a temporary solution until the hard de minimis sunset on 1 July next year.

According to CBP, about 52.4m imports were registered as type 11 entries between 1 September last year and 31 May this year, while there were 24.4m entries for postal imports.

Under the new regime, type 11 entries have to be filed electronically upon, or before, arrival in the US, replacing current CBP requirement for filings within 15 days of arrival.

The new deadline gives cause for concern. A sampling of entries between September and November last year by CBP found more than half the type 11 imports would have missed the new deadline.

In addition, CBP wants filings to include the final deliver-to-party as a required data element, if it differs from the consignee.

Cargo owners, logistics providers, and customs brokers will have to scramble to ensure their traffic complies with the new type 11 requirements. Forwarder Sobel Network Shipping warned that, “for brands, 3PLs, cross-border carriers, and customs brokers, the era of lightweight clearance procedures for parcel freight has closed”, and added that proactive operational alignment was necessary to prepare for the new regime.

This will include system integration and EDI preparedness and upstream data integrity, as well as evaluating their volume exposure under planned informal bonding mandates, and building a partnership with an experienced licensed customs broker.

The new type 13 regulations end the possibility of paper entries, mandating electronic filing at arrival of the shipment, or earlier. In addition to existing requirements entries must include the shipper or sender, as well as the package tracking number, which also has to be included by the carrier on the inbound manifest.

As with type 11 entries, CBP has tightened the timeline for type 13 filings, which have to be made within 15 days before the agency considers a shipment ‘voluntarily abandoned’. So far, it has held shipments for 30 days before deeming them abandoned.

CBP acknowledged that the tighter timeline, combined with elevated requirements, carried the risk of some importers not receiving their shipments.

On top of these requirements, CBP plans to introduce bond requirements for certain categories of informal entries. According to the agency, this is intended to prevent the entry of illicit substances and equipment, to curb counterfeit goods and intellectual property infringement, and for the benefit of trade law compliance.

In an interesting twist, CBP pushed the compliance deadline for type 13 entries back to 20 January, from the planned implementation date of 22 October. This is meant to give customs brokers, importers, and the broader trade community time to adapt their systems and processes, and prevent clearance bottlenecks.

However, several observers have suggested a different likely reason for the delay: they argue it pushes the impact of the new rules into next year, well past the mid-term elections in early November.

The type 13 regime has caused alarm over likely higher prescription drug costs for US citizens who access cheaper medications from outside the US, primarily Canada. Patients’ advocates and industry groups have criticised this, and warned of possible disruption of medications ordered from the northern neighbour.

And the administration in Washington has cause to be nervous about consumer sentiment over higher prices. According to a recent report from the US Labor Department, prices continued to rise last month. Critics of the government have blamed the rise in inflation squarely on economic policies and the war on Iran; and the higher cost of living has been widely adopted as a pivotal theme in the upcoming elections.