Customs Issues And Liabilities.
Two Separate Risks Brands Are Not Ready For.
There are two different customs problems circling brands right now, and treating them as one conversation is how both get missed.
CBP enforcement is accelerating on shipping term liability and on transshipment fraud at the same time.
They are different exposures with different fixes, even though both can end in penalties, seizures, or worse.
Issue One: FOB Vs. LDP/DDP
FOB makes the brand the importer of record, with direct legal exposure for classification, valuation, and origin claims. LDP/DDP shifts that title to the vendor, which limits your legal exposure on paper but not your visibility or your risk if something goes wrong. Neither term removes your reasonable care obligation.
Issue Two: Transshipment
This is a separate problem. Goods get routed through a third country for minimal processing, then re-exported as if they originated there, purely to dodge Section 301 tariffs. If the tariff savings look too easy, the country of origin paperwork is usually doing the work.
Why Both Are Accelerating Right Now
Enforce and Protect Act investigations, Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act detentions, and the loss of de minimis exemptions have all increased the odds that any given shipment gets a real look. The brands getting caught are not unlucky, they are the ones who never checked either issue.
The Fix Is Different For Each
Shipping term liability gets fixed in your contracts and your broker audits. Transshipment risk gets fixed in factory verification and vendor due diligence. Running both through the same checklist is how one of them gets skipped.
Getting ahead of this starts with knowing which of these two you are actually exposed to, and building a separate plan for each.
Swipe through for both playbooks on How To Safeguard Against Customs Penalties, Seizures, Or Worse. 👇
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