Importer of Record USA: how foreign companies clear US customs

A foreign company can clear goods through US customs without a US subsidiary, but someone has to act as Importer of Record. That party files the entry with CBP, posts the customs bond, pays duties and fees and answers for the paperwork. An Importer of Record USA service fills that role when you cannot do it yourself.

The United States is one of the easiest large markets to sell into and, at the same time, one of the strictest about who is allowed to bring goods across the border. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) does not care much where your company is incorporated. It cares that a clearly identified party takes legal responsibility for every entry, that the duties are secured by a bond, and that the information it receives is accurate.

That last point has become much more important in 2026. A new executive order and a CBP notice tightened the rules for foreign importers of record, and some of the shortcuts foreign sellers used for years are closing. This guide explains how the role works, what a foreign company needs to import in its own name, what changed this year, and when it makes more sense to use an Importer of Record service for servers, networking gear and other high-value hardware.

What does an Importer of Record do in the United States?

The Importer of Record is the party legally responsible for an entry into the United States. It makes sure the goods are classified and valued correctly, pays the duties, taxes and fees, keeps the records and answers to CBP if anything is wrong. A licensed customs broker usually files the entry, but the responsibility stays with the importer.

In practice, the role has four parts. First, identification: the importer needs an importer number registered with CBP, which for most foreign companies means submitting CBP Form 5106. Second, financial security: the importer posts a customs bond that guarantees duties and penalties will be paid. Third, the entry itself: classification under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, the declared value, the country of origin and any approvals other agencies require. Fourth, the aftermath: the importer keeps the records, responds to requests for information and pays any additional duties CBP assesses after the goods are released.

If you want the general concept first, our guide on what an Importer of Record is and when you need one covers it without the US detail. Here we focus on what makes the US version different, and why it matters most for technology shipments.

Can a foreign company be the Importer of Record in the USA?

Yes. US law allows a nonresident company to act as Importer of Record, provided it meets a few conditions. The main ones are a resident agent who can accept legal service, a customs bond backed by a US surety, an importer number with accurate data and a broker or filer who will submit the entries.

The basic rule sits in 19 CFR 141.18, which sets the entry requirements for nonresident corporations: the company needs a resident agent, in the state of the port of entry or of the filing location, who is authorized to accept service of process, and it has to file a bond on CBP Form 301 with a resident corporate surety. In other words, CBP wants someone in the country it can serve legal papers on, and a US guarantee that the money will be there.

On top of that, the foreign company needs an importer number. A US company normally uses its IRS employer number, while a foreign company without one submits CBP Form 5106 and receives a number assigned by CBP. That form asks for the company's identity, address and contact details, and since September 2026 CBP has been checking that information closely, as explained in the next section.

None of this is impossible for a well-organized foreign company. The difficulty is time and continuity. Setting up the agent, the surety relationship, the broker power of attorney and the importer number can take weeks, and once it is set up, someone has to maintain it, monitor the bond, answer CBP requests and keep records for years. For a company that ships into the United States a few times a year, that overhead often costs more than the shipments justify.

What changed for foreign importers of record in 2026?

Two things. In June 2026, an executive order told CBP to tighten the rules for foreign importers of record, including how they file entries and post bonds. In August, CBP announced that from September 18, 2026 it would void importer numbers with inaccurate or incomplete identity data.

Executive Order 14411, Strengthening Customs Enforcement, signed on June 3, 2026, directs CBP to stop foreign importers of record from filing informal entries and says that, for formal entries, a foreign IOR may not rely on a continuous bond except where CBP accepts that the revenue is fully protected. It also requires foreign importers of record to be validated in the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT), if eligible, or to file through a CTPAT-validated licensed customs broker, and it gives CBP 180 days for most of these changes. Some of these measures depend on regulations that CBP is still writing, so the details will keep evolving, but the direction is clear.

The second change is already in force. In a general notice published on August 19, 2026, CBP announced that beginning September 18, 2026 it will void importer numbers when the information on Form 5106 is inaccurate or incomplete. The address must be the importer's real place of business, not the address of a registered agent, broker, forwarder or mail service, and the email and phone number must belong to the importer, not to the broker. A voided number cannot be used to enter goods, which means a shipment can stop at the border because of an address field.

For foreign sellers of technology hardware, the practical effect is that the informal, low-friction ways of getting goods into the United States are narrowing. Importing in your own name now demands the same discipline as any established US importer, and using someone else's name loosely is a bigger risk than it used to be.

Which bond and entry type will your shipment need?

Commercial shipments valued above 2,500 US dollars generally require a formal entry, which means a customs bond and a full entry summary. For a foreign importer, the bond will usually be a single transaction bond for each shipment, especially now that continuous bonds are being restricted for foreign importers of record.

The threshold comes from 19 CFR 143.21, which allows informal entry for shipments not exceeding 2,500 US dollars, with exceptions for certain goods. Servers, switches, storage arrays and telecom equipment almost always exceed that value, so formal entry is the normal case for this kind of cargo. With Executive Order 14411 directing CBP to stop foreign importers of record from filing informal entries at all, even small replacement parts may soon need the formal route if they are imported in a foreign company's name.

The bond choice affects cost and cash flow. A single transaction bond covers one entry and is generally priced on the value of the goods plus duties and fees, which can make it expensive for large hardware shipments. A continuous bond covers all entries over a year and is usually the cheaper option for frequent importers, but that is precisely the option the executive order restricts for foreign companies. This is one of the reasons a US-based Importer of Record, with its own continuous bond and compliance history, has become more attractive for foreign sellers.

How are duties calculated on servers and networking hardware?

US duties depend on the tariff classification in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, the customs value and the country of origin, plus any additional duties that apply on top of the normal rate. For technology hardware, the additional duties are often the part that changes the budget.

Many computers, servers and networking products have low or zero ordinary duty rates in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, but the full picture also includes additional duties that can apply depending on the product and the origin, and these have changed several times during 2026. One example relevant to AI hardware is Proclamation 11002 of January 14, 2026, which imposed a 25 percent Section 232 duty on a narrow group of advanced semiconductors and derivative products, with exclusions for uses such as US data centers and US research and development. If your shipment includes GPU servers, our guide on how to import AI servers without a local company explains how those rules and US export controls interact.

Valuation is the other half. The declared value has to reflect the price actually paid or payable, and it has to treat software, support contracts, installation and assists correctly. When a foreign manufacturer ships to its own US customer under Delivered Duty Paid terms, the invoice to CBP must still be consistent with the sale, and related-party pricing between a parent and a US affiliate is an area CBP looks at closely. CBP also collects the Merchandise Processing Fee on most formal entries, calculated as a percentage of value within a minimum and a maximum, and the Harbor Maintenance Fee on ocean shipments.

The safest approach is to classify every line before the goods ship, confirm which additional duties apply on the expected entry date, and budget with a margin. For high-value equipment, a one-point difference in duty can be worth more than the freight.

Which agencies besides CBP can stop a hardware shipment?

CBP enforces the rules of many other agencies at the border. For technology hardware, the most common one is the Federal Communications Commission, because most electronic devices emit radio frequency energy. Some optical components and lasers also fall under federal product safety rules.

The FCC's import rules are in 47 CFR 2.1201 and the sections that follow it, which set the conditions for importing radio frequency devices. In short, a device capable of causing harmful interference has to meet FCC requirements, including the applicable equipment authorization, before it is imported and marketed. Servers, switches, routers, wireless access points and 5G radios all fall somewhere in that framework, and the manufacturer's FCC documentation should be ready before the goods ship.

Optical transceivers and other products that contain lasers can be subject to the radiation-emitting product rules administered by the Food and Drug Administration, and lithium batteries inside equipment raise their own transport rules. Neither is usually a problem for established manufacturers, but they become one when the paperwork is missing at the moment of entry. An experienced Importer of Record asks for these documents up front, along with the commercial invoice and packing list.

What are your options to import into the USA without a US company?

Foreign sellers usually choose between four routes: registering as a nonresident importer, opening a US subsidiary, letting the buyer import, or using an Importer of Record service. The right one depends on volume, margins, the customer relationship and how much compliance work you want to carry.

There is no universally right answer. A manufacturer shipping containers every week to its own warehouse will eventually want its own US structure. A company delivering a few racks of servers to a customer site, testing demand, or bidding on a project that requires delivered pricing usually gets there faster with an Importer of Record service, and can revisit the structure once the volume is proven.

How does an import into the USA work, step by step?

A typical technology import follows the same order: confirm the product data, set up the importer and bond, prepare consistent documents, file the entry and the advance data, release and deliver, and keep the records. Problems usually come from skipping the first step and discovering a missing approval at the border.

1. Confirm the product data: tariff classification, country of origin, value, FCC status and any other agency requirements for every line on the order.
2. Decide who will be Importer of Record and put that party in place: importer number with accurate Form 5106 data, bond, broker power of attorney and, for a nonresident company, a resident agent.
3. Prepare the documents: commercial invoice that matches the sale, packing list with serial numbers for high-value items, and any certificates or declarations the products need.
4. File in advance: for ocean freight, the Importer Security Filing has to be submitted before the goods are loaded at the foreign port, and the broker can prepare the entry while the goods are in transit.
5. Clear and deliver: CBP releases the goods, duties and fees are paid within the required period, and the cargo moves to the final site, often a data center or customer warehouse with fixed delivery windows.
6. Keep the file: the Importer of Record keeps the entry records and supporting documents for the period required by law and answers any later CBP questions.

The step that most often slips is the second one. If the importer is not ready when the goods arrive, they wait in a warehouse, accrue storage charges and sometimes miss the installation slot that the whole project was planned around.

When does an Importer of Record service make sense?

An Importer of Record service makes sense when you need to deliver into the United States now, without a US company, and without taking on the full compliance load of a nonresident importer. It is most useful for first shipments, project-based deliveries and high-value equipment where a delay costs more than the service.

The 2026 changes push in that direction. With stricter conditions for foreign importers of record, closer checks on importer identity data and a tariff environment that keeps moving, a foreign seller importing in its own name has less room for improvisation. A US-based Importer of Record with its own bond, broker relationships and compliance routine absorbs much of that work, while you keep the commercial relationship with your customer.

It is also fair to say when it is not the best choice. If you already import into the United States every week, with stable products and a team that knows CBP, building your own structure will usually be cheaper over time. The service is a bridge, and for many companies it is a long bridge, but it should fit your volume and your plans.

If you are planning to ship servers, networking gear or other technology hardware into the United States and you have no US company yet, talk to us about an Importer of Record in the United States. Tell us what you are shipping, from where, and when it needs to arrive, and we will tell you plainly which route makes sense and what it would take.