CBP crackdown on DDP imports puts US buyers on the hook for sellers' sins

US importers running 'delivered duty-paid' shipments face penalties, seizures and refused entries — even when they're not the importer of record. That's the blunt warning from CargoTrans, which says Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is tightening its scrutiny of foreign importers of record. And the post-Liberation Day stampede towards DDP, it seems, is now walking briskly backwards.

Speaking on the forwarder's monthly Tariff Tea webinar, co-CEO Nunzio De Filippis and trade compliance director Rennie Alston laid out the uncomfortable arithmetic of convenience. Under DDP, the overseas seller owns import clearance and the duties. Fine on paper. In practice, CBP is increasingly asking whether those arrangements exist mainly to dodge tariffs — particularly where foreign sellers or intermediary platforms act as non-resident importers of record.

Whose problem is it, really?

Culpability, apparently, travels better than containers. Mr Alston didn't mince words: "If you are the US consignee, if you are the US order party, if you are the instigator to the transaction, then you have culpability."

Some US buyers have already reported shipments refused entry, seized, or ordered for re-export, Mr De Filippis said. The trigger cases include incorrect importer information and the slightly creative use of a third-party logistics provider as ultimate consignee. The consequences don't stop at the seller's border, either. US buyers can face penalties tied to their own import bonds.

The practical fix, per CargoTrans: consider switching from DDP to 'delivered at place' (DAP), which keeps import formalities in the buyer's hands. For those staying with DDP, demand transparency — customs declarations, transaction documents, and the supporting import data behind them. US record-keeping rules mean ignorance of what was declared on your behalf is not, legally speaking, a personality trait.

The CF28 trap

Mr Alston also flagged the rising volume of CBP requests for information — CF28s — and counselled patience over panic. The standard response window is 20 days, and his advice is not to sprint through it. Companies should check internally across procurement, finance, legal, compliance and logistics before answering.

There's a reason for the caution. A mismatch between supplier documentation and the original customs declaration can create fresh exposure if an importer inadvertently discloses a previously unreported compliance problem. "Your response has to be measured," Mr Alston said.

The enforcement climate itself is shifting. CBP is now issuing notices of action without first requesting information through a CF28, which Mr Alston attributed to the agency's growing use of customs data analytics. Officials can make decisions from what's already sitting in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system. Importers who disagree with an assessment may have to pay the additional duties first and challenge the outcome afterwards through the protest process. Pay now, argue later — a familiar choreography.

Dates for the diary

Alongside the enforcement picture, CargoTrans flagged several tariff developments with near-term deadlines:

• Section 338 revisions on Canadian goods, effective 30 October: 22 tariff classifications came off the additional 50% duty, while 100 others were added. A net tightening, in plain terms.
• 178 China-related Section 301 product exclusions expire 9 November, potentially exposing affected imports to additional duties unless Washington acts.
• A proposed extension of the suspension of China-linked vessel fees until 9 January — not yet finalised. Vessel operators and charterers will want that one in writing.

Freight and inland: cheap ocean, expensive land

On the ocean market, CargoTrans expects selective rate softening through November, particularly from North Asia and India to the US east coast. South-east Asian capacity, by contrast, remains constrained.

Inland is the wobblier leg. Rail congestion, labour uncertainty, and the planned 16-month closure of Los Angeles' Vincent Thomas Bridge could all undermine delivery reliability — a closure long enough to reroute habits, not just trucks.

What does this change for shippers?

CargoTrans's closing argument is the one worth keeping. Cheap ocean freight means little if customs exposure and inland disruption inflate the total cost of moving goods. A few hundred dollars saved on a DDP clause can unravel quickly through a seized container, a bond penalty, or a hasty CF28 reply that discloses more than it explains.

For shippers and forwarders alike, the immediate homework is documentary: know who your importer of record actually is, what was declared under your transactions, and whether DDP still earns its keep. For carriers, softer headhaul rates from North Asia may be the market's only generous gesture this quarter — and November's exclusion expiries and unresolved vessel-fee suspension suggest the tariff file will stay open well into the new year.