Customs valuation: what it is and why businesses should care about it?

Customs duty is levied on imported goods that attract a positive rate of duty. The customs duty rate can be an ad valorem rate (e.g. 12% on t-shirts) or a specific duty calculated using elements other than value of the goods, such as weight (e.g. 948.00 EUR / tonne on pet food).

All imported goods must have a customs value. When the customs duty rate is ad valorem one, the rate is applied to the customs value of the imported goods. As such, customs value has a direct impact on the amount of customs duty payable.

But what exactly is a ‘customs value’ and how is this calculated?

Source Blick Rothenberg

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