The importer's responsibilities
US customs law places responsibility on the importer of record to declare goods accurately, which covers classification, value, country of origin, and eligibility for any trade program. The legal standard is reasonable care, and using a licensed customs broker does not shift that duty away from the importer. Entries are filed electronically and become final through liquidation, after which the ways to change them narrow. Other agencies, such as the FDA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Department of Agriculture, enforce their own rules at the border, and CBP often acts on their behalf. Antidumping and countervailing duties are set by the Commerce Department and collected by CBP.
When something goes wrong
Problems take several forms. A shipment may be detained over admissibility questions, including concerns about forced labor in the supply chain, and the importer then has a limited time to respond with documentation. CBP may send a request for information or a notice of action about past entries, or begin an audit of an importer's records. If CBP believes entries were inaccurate, it can seek penalties that scale with the degree of fault alleged, and it can seize goods in some cases. Separately, misstatements made to avoid duties can lead to civil claims under the False Claims Act, sometimes brought by competitors or insiders, and to criminal charges in serious cases.
Planning a response
Customs disputes often turn on documents prepared long before anyone was looking: purchase orders, supplier declarations, production records, and the instructions given to the broker. We start by identifying what CBP is asking, which entries are involved, and what deadline applies. Then we review classification, valuation, and origin positions to see whether the issue is isolated or repeated across many entries. Where errors are found, a prior disclosure may be worth considering before CBP opens a formal investigation. Protests of liquidated entries and appeals to the Court of International Trade follow their own procedures and time limits, so the order of steps matters.
