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Who has the right to make entry? The financial interest test, explained

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In brief

The Importer of Record must hold the right to make entry, and that turns on a financial interest in the goods. What 19 U.S.C. §1484, CBP Directive 3530-002A, and 19 C.F.R. §141.18 actually say.

Every formal entry into the United States is filed in someone’s name. That party is the Importer of Record (IOR), and the law is specific about who may hold the role. The test is not who arranged the shipping, who is listed on the bill of lading, or who the goods are addressed to. It is whether the party has the right to make entry, and that turns on a financial interest in the merchandise.

This post walks through the statute, the CBP directive that interprets it, the regulation that governs nonresident companies, and why the 2026 customs enforcement order makes the question sharper than it was a year ago.

If you need a US Importer of Record

The practical question behind the directive is usually simple: a foreign seller, or a United States buyer that does not want the entry in its own name, needs a party inside the country that holds the right to make entry. An independent United States Importer of Record assumes that role under 19 U.S.C. §1484, holds the bond, and has the entries filed by licensed customs brokers. Tell us what you import and how your entries are filed today, and we’ll show you where you stand. See if you qualify or read how it works.

What the statute says

The entry statute is 19 U.S.C. §1484. Subsection (a)(1) requires that entry be made by one of the parties qualifying as importer of record, in person or through an agent authorized in writing, using reasonable care. Subsection (a)(2)(B) then names those parties: the owner or purchaser of the merchandise, or, when appropriately designated by the owner, purchaser, or consignee, a licensed customs broker.

Two things follow from the text. First, the right belongs to the owner or purchaser. Second, a broker files on that party’s behalf under a designation, which is why the broker and the Importer of Record are different roles on the same entry. The Importer of Record page covers that distinction in more detail, and the definitions post gives the legal source for each term.

What owner or purchaser means in practice

Title alone does not settle the question. CBP Directive 3530-002A, Right to Make Entry, sets out how CBP reads owner and purchaser. The directive treats those terms as including parties with a sufficient financial interest in the import transaction, and it gives examples: the actual owner, the actual purchaser, a buying or selling agent, and a person importing goods for purposes such as exhibition or repair.

The directive also draws the line that matters most for companies relying on a forwarder or a supplier. A nominal consignee, meaning a party named on shipping documents that has no financial stake in the goods, does not have the right to make entry in its own name. It may designate a licensed broker to make entry for the party that does hold the interest, but it cannot be the Importer of Record itself.

CBP rulings have applied this standard case by case. An entity without title has been found to qualify where it arranged the importation, paid the duties, and carried contractual responsibility for the goods. In other rulings, CBP found the described facts insufficient because the financial interest was asserted rather than established. The analysis is fact specific and turns on documentation.

The nonresident case

A company with no United States presence can hold the right to make entry, but the regulation attaches conditions. Under 19 C.F.R. §141.18, a nonresident corporation may not enter merchandise for consumption unless it has a resident agent in the state where the port of entry is located who is authorized to accept service of process, and unless it files a bond with a resident corporate surety.

This is the arrangement many foreign manufacturers and overseas sellers operate under today, whether they set it up deliberately or inherited it from a forwarder. It is also the arrangement the 2026 order points at directly.

Why the order raises the stakes

The June 3, 2026 executive order directs DHS and CBP to require that Importers of Record maintain a minimum level of tangible domestic assets, bonding, or both, and to impose heightened requirements for formal entry by foreign entities. It directs that informal entry be limited to United States Importers of Record, and it calls for a good standing requirement with increased vetting.

None of that is in effect. The order sets direction, and the requirements run through rulemaking. The tracker page carries the current position and a last-updated date. The reason the right-to-make-entry question matters now is that each of those directives is aimed at the party holding the role. When the rules land, the question will no longer be only whether a party has a financial interest. It will also be whether that party can show assets, bonding, and standing.

Reasonable care and the records behind the entry

The statute pairs the right to make entry with a duty. 19 U.S.C. §1484(a)(1) requires the Importer of Record to use reasonable care in filing the entry, including the declared value, classification, and rate of duty. That standard is not satisfied by relying on whatever the supplier put on the invoice.

The records behind the entry must also be kept. Under 19 C.F.R. Part 163, entry records are retained for five years from the date of entry, and CBP may demand them. A party that holds the Importer of Record role holds the recordkeeping obligation with it.

The facts that decide the question

For any given shipment, the answer comes down to a short list of facts:

  • Who is named as Importer of Record on the entry summary
  • Whether that party owns or purchased the goods, or otherwise holds a documented financial interest in them
  • Whether that party is a nonresident corporation, and if so, whether the 19 C.F.R. §141.18 conditions are met
  • Who holds the customs bond, and whether it is continuous or single transaction
  • Where the entry records are kept and who can produce them

A company that can answer those five questions from its own files knows where it stands. A company that cannot is usually relying on a supplier or a forwarder to have gotten it right, and the breakdown by situation describes what that looks like for each type of importer.

Related

Sources

This post summarizes publicly available federal actions for general information. It is not legal advice. Requirements are subject to rulemaking and change. Verify current requirements against the Federal Register and CBP guidance.

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Tell us what you import and how your entries are filed today, and we’ll show you where you stand. We reply to your work email within one business day. The full form has room for more detail.

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