Transcription
And now for a paperwork trick that's saving importers up to 20% with no factory changes required. This tactic is called the unbundling strategy. And here's how it works.
When you import a product, the total invoice price may include things like the cost, design fees, advertising, royalties, freight commissions, software licenses. But not all these are taxable. Only certain costs count toward the customs value. Unbundling means breaking out on paper, in your contracts or invoices, any fees that aren't dutyable so they don't get taxed.
So for example, let's say you import a smart speaker and you pay your supplier $100 per unit. This includes 80 bucks for the actual physical product, 10 bucks for the software, and 10 bucks for an R&D reimbursement. If you just declare 100 bucks at customs, you pay duties on the full amount. But if you unbundle the invoice, customs may only charge duties on the $80, excluding software or the R&D fees if they are classified properly. This can reduce your tariff bill by 20% or more.
And just to be clear, you're not cheating the system. You're just declaring more accurately. If you separate out the non-dutable charges and restructure pricing, you could legally reduce what you owe in tariffs. And if not,