Do I need a US importer of record? Who owns the goods at entry decides

Every entry of goods into the United States has an Importer of Record (IOR), and the question is never whether one exists but who it is. If you own or purchase the goods when they are entered, you are eligible to be the IOR, and your name or your broker’s filing on your behalf puts you in the role. If you do not own the goods at entry, the role belongs to someone else, and a forwarder, a supplier, or an agent that lists itself has no standing to hold it. So “do I need a US importer of record” usually resolves into a narrower question: who owns the goods at the moment of entry, and does that party meet the conditions the regulations set?

This page walks through the statute, the regulation, and the 2026 enforcement position so you can place your own company. It is written for compliance, finance, and supply chain leaders, including those at companies importing pharmaceuticals, steel and aluminum, oil and gas equipment, chemicals, copper, machinery, semiconductors, and vehicles, where duty is assessed per entry and the party named on the entry carries it.

What the statute says

Under 19 U.S.C. §1484(a)(1), one of the parties qualifying as importer of record makes entry, in person or through an agent authorized in writing, using reasonable care. Section 1484(a)(2)(B) then names who may file the entry documentation: the owner or purchaser of the merchandise, or, when appropriately designated by the owner, purchaser, or consignee, a person holding a valid license under 19 U.S.C. §1641, which is a licensed customs broker. It adds that when a consignee declares on entry that it is the owner or purchaser, CBP may accept the declaration without liability, and that the importer of record must be one of the parties eligible to file.

Two things follow. A licensed customs broker files entries but is designated by the owner or purchaser; the broker does not choose to be the importer. And the test is ownership or purchase, not where the company is based or what it calls itself. The right to make entry post covers the second point in detail.

What the role carries

The IOR is the party primarily liable for the duties. 19 C.F.R. §101.1 defines the importer as the person primarily liable for the payment of duties on the merchandise, or an authorized agent acting on that person’s behalf. Under 19 C.F.R. §141.1, the liability for duties attaching on importation is a personal debt of the importer, and it does not pass to a broker who pays on the importer’s behalf.

An IOR also needs an identity on file. Under 19 C.F.R. §24.5, each importer files CBP Form 5106, the Create/Update Importer Identity Form, with its first formal entry. The Importer of Record page lists the remaining obligations, including reasonable care in classification and valuation and the record keeping rules.

Does this apply to me? Four situations

You buy goods on terms where title passes to you before they arrive. Under free on board or similar terms you are the owner or purchaser when the entry is filed, so you are the IOR. You are the party who needs a bond, a Form 5106, and a broker with your power of attorney.

You sell into the United States on delivered duty paid terms from abroad. The goods are yours when they arrive, so you hold the right to make entry. As a company not incorporated in the United States, you are a nonresident corporation and 19 C.F.R. §141.18 applies. You may enter merchandise for consumption only if you have a resident agent in the state of the port of entry who can accept service of process and you file a bond on CBP Form 301 with a resident corporate surety. The nonresident importer post covers both conditions.

A forwarder or a supplier is named on your entries. If that party does not own or purchase the goods, it falls outside the class of parties 19 U.S.C. §1484(a)(2)(B) permits. This is the situation that needs checking first, because the entry may rest on a party without the right to make it.

You are a manufacturer or distributor in Brazil or another Latin American country selling to a United States buyer. If the buyer takes title before arrival, the buyer is the IOR and the foreign requirements fall on the buyer. If you keep title through delivery, you are in the second situation above. The delivery term in the contract decides it, and the country of export does not.

The who needs a US IOR page breaks the same ground by importer type, and the foreign importer requirements post covers the foreign case in full.

What is in effect now

Since September 18, 2026, CBP enforces the accuracy of Importer of Record data under the notice Accuracy of Importer of Record Data Submitted to CBP, published August 19, 2026. The notice states that CBP will, as of September 18, 2026, immediately void the associated IOR number where the information is inaccurate. The physical address on the Form 5106 must be the actual physical location of the business or individual and cannot be a registered agent, customs broker, freight forwarder, P.O. box, or business service center. Customs brokers must execute the power of attorney directly with the IOR, not through a freight forwarder or other third party.

For the second situation above, this matters: the resident agent that 19 C.F.R. §141.18 requires is the kind of address the notice says cannot stand in for the importer’s own.

What is in rulemaking

Executive Order 14411, Strengthening Customs Enforcement, signed June 3, 2026 and published at 91 FR 35125 on June 10, 2026, directs CBP to require a minimum level of tangible domestic assets, bonding, or both for an IOR (Section 2(a)(i)); to bar a foreign IOR from filing informal entry (Section 2(b)(i)); to set stricter formal entry conditions for foreign IORs (Section 2(c)(i)); and to define good standing for all IORs (Section 2(d)). As of October 13, 2026, none of those provisions is in effect. CBP’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking, Heightened Import Disclosures for Supply Chain Visibility, published September 2, 2026, takes comments through December 1, 2026 and states no effective date. A proposed rule on informal entries of $2,500 or less, published October 8, 2026 at 91 FR 64532, takes comments through December 7, 2026 and is not in effect. The tracker carries the dated position of each.

The facts that decide whether you need one

• Who owns or purchases the goods at the moment the entry is filed, as set by your contract terms and your title documents
• Whether that party is incorporated in the United States, which decides whether 19 C.F.R. §141.18 applies
• Whether a resident agent and a bond on CBP Form 301 are in place, if the owner is a nonresident corporation
• Which party is named as importer on your entries today, and whether it is the owner or purchaser
• What physical address, email, and phone sit on the Form 5106 for that party
• Whether the broker filing holds a power of attorney executed directly with the IOR
• Whether any of your volume moves under informal entry

If you want to see how these facts apply to your imports, See if you qualify or write to ship@iorusa.com.

Sources

• 19 U.S.C. §1484, entry of merchandise
• 19 C.F.R. §101.1, definitions
• 19 C.F.R. §141.1, liability of importer for duties
• 19 C.F.R. §141.18, entry by nonresident corporation
• 19 C.F.R. §24.5, filing identification number
• CBP, Accuracy of Importer of Record Data Submitted to CBP, August 19, 2026
• Executive Order 14411, Strengthening Customs Enforcement, 91 FR 35125, June 10, 2026
• CBP, Heightened Import Disclosures for Supply Chain Visibility, September 2, 2026