International Trade Blog

Do you know the difference between HS codes, HTS codes, and Schedule B codes? In casual conversation, exporters tend to use these terms interchangeably; they, for the most part, understand that these are codes representing classifications of products.

While it’s not wrong to use them interchangeably in casual conversation, it is important to understand the differences—if not, you could get into trouble, and your shipment could, too!

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When shipping goods overseas, you’ll need to correctly complete an ocean bill of lading. It’s just a standard bill of lading… how hard can it be?

Not so fast! Though the bill of lading forms are a template, they still require attention to detail in order to avoid mistakes that can cost you.

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It may seem easy to become an exporter—particularly since the internet knows no borders—but the scope of things exporters need to be aware of is very broad.

To start with, companies need to identify foreign markets for their products, determine the best method for selling those goods, and make sure they're going to get paid.

They also need to be aware of potential export compliance issues. And to do that, they need to know which U.S. government agency has jurisdiction over their goods and what set of export regulations apply. Without enough information, it can quickly get confusing.

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I know there are companies out there that never look at their letters of credit (LC) until they are ready to present documents to the bank. Once they’ve received one from their customer, they assume it’s as good as gold and immediately put it away for safekeeping.

This practice sends shivers down my spine!

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Have you heard about electronic certificates of origin (eCO) available for exporters? The online version of the certificate of origin form is cheaper and easier to complete than the traditional paper format—and equally secure.

In case you missed it, here are 3 Reasons Exporters Should Use an Electronic Certificate Of Origin. Here’s information on how to complete your eCO online.

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You’ve probably known since grade school that Puerto Rico is not a state. But do you know what it is?

It’s an unincorporated United States territory in the Caribbean Sea made up of a main island plus several smaller islands with a population of about 3.5 million people.

But what does it mean to be an unincorporated U.S. territory?

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The Destination Control Statement is a legal statement required by the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) stating that the goods you are exporting are destined to the country indicated in all the shipping documents. It is a necessary legal boundary clarifying what happens to shipments, and it essentially states that the buyer isn’t going to take the goods and forward them to another country.

Until recently, the statement required by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under the EAR was different than the statement required by the State Department under the ITAR. That changed in November 2016 after both agencies published notices in the Federal Register of a single, harmonized statement that can be used by exporters regardless if their goods fall under the jurisdiction of BIS or State.

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In the fall of 2000, the U. S. Census Bureau updated the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) and replaced the term Exporter with the term U.S. Principal Party in Interest or USPPI.

Even though this change was made nearly two decades ago, some companies are still confused by this change especially when it comes to their responsibilities even if they are only shipping the goods to a domestic location.

In this blog post I'll try to clarify the responsibilities of a USPPI and use a series of case studies to identify the exporter and USPPI in each of the scenarios.

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It's funny how you can go for years without knowing what something is and then all of a sudden be inundated with questions about that item.

The first time someone called and asked me about a Certificate of Free Sale, I had no idea what they were talking about. Now it seems that I get at least one query every week about that particular export document.

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In my first article in this series, I discussed the role chambers of commerce play in exporting.

In this article, I'm focusing on one of the most useful services a chamber of commerce provides to exporters: export documents. Specifically, their role in helping you create a certificate of origin.

Here’s what you need to know about that process.

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