How it works

Structured, repeatable, and built to be explained to an auditor.

Step 1: Intake and review

Your current import structure is analyzed: SKUs, HTS classifications, and landed cost components.

What you provide: SKU list and product descriptions, current invoices and landed cost structure, supplier and country of origin details, and historical entry data if available.

Step 2: Compliance and valuation strategy

The appropriate valuation methodology is determined under 19 U.S.C. §1401a, and cost elements are assessed against the statute.

Step 3: Import structuring, before entry

A compliant import model is established, with the Importer of Record provider serving as IOR. Documentation and valuation are set before goods enter the United States.

This sequence is the whole point. Structuring happens prior to importation. Nothing here depends on post-entry corrections.

Step 4: Execution through licensed brokers

Entries are filed through licensed customs brokers in the Automated Commercial Environment, with the Importer of Record maintaining compliance oversight.

Your existing broker can remain the filer. The broker files. The Importer of Record carries the IOR obligations.

Step 5: Ongoing monitoring and audit support

Records are maintained under 19 C.F.R. Part 163. CBP inquiries, including CF-28 requests for information and CF-29 notices of action, are supported with documentation prepared at the time of entry rather than assembled afterward.

What stays the same

Your supplier relationships. The structure operates at the import and compliance layer, not the commercial sales layer. Suppliers continue issuing invoices. Your pricing, margins, and commercial terms remain intact.

Your accounting. Customs value is a legal construct under 19 U.S.C. §1401a. Financial reporting follows GAAP and IFRS. These are different measurements and neither disturbs the other.

Your broker, if you have one you are happy with.

Where Hamburg Logistics fits

We handle the first conversation. We learn what you import, how your entries are structured, and whether the structure is the right fit. If it is, we make the introduction. If it is not, we say so.