Practice Areas

The United States government maintains a complex regulatory system for the collection of customs duties on imported merchandise. Violations of these regulations can lead to both civil and criminal penalties. The principal agency responsible for enforcing United States import regulations is the United States Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (“Customs Service”). We help clients develop, implement, and monitor their customs compliance programs. We work with clients in the area of classification, valuation, etc., in order to achieve optimum duty savings.

We represent interested parties in disputes with the Customs Service as to the proper tariff treatment of imported merchandise and in penalty actions arising from alleged violations of United States import laws and regulations. The actions of the Customs Service are generally subject to judicial review in the United States Court of International Trade, and we regularly handle appeals to the Court of International Trade of denied protests and other adverse rulings by the Customs Service.

We also help our clients benefit from various special customs duty programs such as duty drawback, foreign trade zones, the Generalized System of Preferences (“GSP”), the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, the United States-Israel Free Trade Agreement, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”).