Cross-border & sourcing

Importer of record

IOR

Definition

The party legally responsible for a shipment's entry into the US — accurate classification, duty payment, and compliance with every applicable regulation. For a South Asian exporter this is typically your US entity, or you as a foreign importer of record with a customs bond and a broker.

Defined in The US Compliance Checklist for South Asian Exporters.

How else it gets framed

The same term carries different emphasis depending on the surface it’s used on. Both readings are correct.

The party legally responsible for a shipment entering the US: filing the customs entry, paying duties, taxes and fees, and meeting every import rule. For FBA inventory that is you or a provider you appoint, never Amazon.

From South Asian Factory to US Amazon: The Manufacturer's Bridge Guide →

Where Importer of record comes up

The guides that put this term to work, rather than just defining it.

Related terms

Knockout search: A preliminary, non-exhaustive search of the USPTO's trademark database (and ideally state and common-law sources) to check whether an identical or confusingly similar mark already exists in your goods category, before you commit budget to a name.
Commercial invoice: The document that states what was sold, to whom, at what price, and under what terms — the primary document US Customs and Border Protection uses to value the shipment and assess duty. It must match the packing list and the actual goods exactly.
ISF: Also called '10+2' — a filing of shipment and party data that must be lodged with US Customs before ocean cargo is loaded at the origin port. Missing or late ISF filings carry monetary penalties and can trigger cargo holds on arrival.
Margin headroom: The gap between a realistic US retail price and your fully-loaded landed cost, after accounting for marketplace fees, launch advertising, and a returns allowance — the buffer that lets a new listing survive its first unprofitable months.
Marketplace facilitator law: A state law making the marketplace — Amazon — responsible for calculating, collecting, and remitting sales tax on third-party sales. Every US state with a sales tax now has one, which is why marketplace-only sellers generally do not register state by state.
Children's Product Certificate: The certificate a manufacturer or importer must issue for any product designed primarily for children 12 and under, based on passing tests performed by a CPSC-accepted third-party laboratory. General-use products subject to a CPSC rule need the self-issued equivalent, a General Certificate of Conformity (GCC).

All 164 terms

Landed cost to US FBA, line by line

Factory price, freight, duty, FBA fees and margin from South Asia to an Amazon US shelf.

Open the landed-cost calculator Manufacturers on Amazon