Issue 288, January 19, 2001
This is a good question. If you don't know, then you should review Section 484 of the Tariff Act of 1930. As amended, the Act grants owners, purchasers, and certain consignees (i.e., licensed brokers) the right to act as "importer of record". The law is plain enough, but it can get complicated when the company acting as importer is not an owner or purchaser of the goods as those terms are commonly understood.

In Customs Directive 3530-02 dated November 6, 1984, Customs Headquarters instructed that the phrase "owner or purchaser" means a party with a financial interest in an import transaction, such as a buying or selling agent. Thus, the mere fact that a party is not the owner or purchaser does not preclude them from making entry. The dispositive question is whether a party has a sufficient financial interest in the import transaction. To be sure, subsidiaries cannot act as importers for their parent or affiliate companies merely because the companies are related. Instead, the affiliate must participate in the transaction in such a way as to have a financial interest in the sale.

Those who are not owners or purchasers, as those terms are commonly defined, should examine whether they have the right to make entry and obtain a ruling from Customs Headquarters to confirm that they have a sufficient interest in the transactions for which they act as importer of record. Otherwise, Customs may terminate the company's right to import goods and assess penalties. Companies exercising reasonable care today spend much time and money examining classification, valuation, origin, etc. They should not ignore one of the most basic questions of importing, which is whether the company is even allowed to import!

Our contributing writer, Michael Roll, is an attorney for Katten, Muchin and Zavis in Chicago and can be reached via email or at 312-902-5200.

Please note that due to the complex nature of the subject matter, Danzas AEI cannot be responsible for actions taken by the reader in reliance on the information contained herein without prior consultation with Danzas AEI.