International Shipping & Freight Forwarding Blog

Novice and experienced shippers alike the idea of importing and exporting goods that have to cross through US customs can seem intimidating. Horror stories of delays, added costs, and even abandoned shipments tend to circulate through the shipping community giving many shippers pause when arranging their international shipments.

Through our years of experience we have helped many customers navigate these unsettled waters and have helped them to successfully manage the customs challenges that they face or avoid them all together. 

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Don't lose your entire shipment over 3 little letters!

If shipping was not complex enough with customs, federal maritime commission, tariff filing, and transportation security administration regulations, we are CONSTANTLY stepping into pre-existing situations where lack of clarity in responsibilities between shipper and buyer are creating problems so major, that entire shipments are being abandoned.

This is exactly the choice a recent military base client of ours is facing. Somebody in the chain wasn't knowledgeable about who is responsible for costs related to delays from customs, and when a random intensive exam was assigned to them, all hell broke loose.

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Inspections are up - morale is down. Where does that leave you?

There is nothing more frustrating than getting that notice that your cargo is going through an inspection... Well, that's not entirely true, because when you start digging around and realize what the delays caused by the inspection are going to do to the rest of your timing and costs, well, that's when it gets worse.

So, who do you blame? What do you do next? What could you have done differently?

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If it's done right, we'll do it again - and again...

It should be no surprise that a large portion of our clients are recurring. Given the nature of the industry, most people sending freight overseas don't do it just once or twice... there are seasons and shifts, but repetition is very common.

That said, we get to see a lot of the trending occurring in different country's economies because of what is being shipped, where, and by whom to whom. For example, one industry that has recently seen a volume increase is the auto parts industry

The point of this article is to help raise awareness in clarifying certain steps taken with your normal and specialized shipping along with the customs clearance & various levels of random inspections importers can be subjected to especially when importing from Saudi Arabia over places like Korea where we have free trade agreements in place.

There are a lot of things that occur there, and there may be charges in past bills that weren't easy to understand when they were first encurred. This should help. 

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