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Episode 10: How a Customs Broker Clears Imports: PGAs, Bonds and IEEPA Refunds

Leaders Speak

Kim Daniels
Speaker

Kim Daniels

CEO - CargoClear

Kim Daniels is an international trade specialist, Licensed U.S. Customs Broker, and Certified Customs Specialist with more than a decade of experience in customs brokerage, import/export operations, and regulatory compliance. She is CEO of CargoClear Technologies, where she supports the development of blockchain-enabled supply chain solutions, and founder and CEO of Mercantile Logistics & International Trade, Inc. Kim helps businesses navigate customs requirements, manage freight movement, and improve import/export processes through practical consulting and compliance-focused guidance. She holds an MBA and a Master of Science in Law.

TL;DR

Kim Daniels, a Licensed Customs Broker and CEO of CargoClear, walks through an import from order to delivery. Using an example of jackfruit from India, she shows how partner government agency rules from USDA, FDA, the Lacey Act and the new CPSC filing pile up, how to choose between single-entry and continuous bonds, why exporters must be open about ingredients and certificates, how she uses ACE reports to recover IEEPA refunds, and why AI should never pick your HTS code alone.

5 Key Findings

  1. Incoterms set who handles each leg

    From EXW to DDP, the agreed term decides who arranges freight, export paperwork and import duties. Buyers who pick EXW to save money often underestimate the freight, customs and service costs they have taken on.

  2. Agricultural imports start with partner agencies

    For a product like jackfruit, a broker checks USDA admissibility and permits, quotas, FDA prior notice, fumigation and organic certification. Certificates such as veterinary documents must be obtained before the goods leave origin.

  3. Labels and ingredients drive customs questions

    A potato chip labeled beef flavor needed a full ingredient list to show it contained no beef. An organic tea sat in paid storage because the farm's recertification was pending. Exporters must share full details.

  4. Bond choice is now a financial decision

    A single-entry bond covers the goods' value plus duties, and tripling applies when FDA is involved. A continuous bond covers 10% of annual duties, so it can beat a single-entry bond even for one shipment, though tariff swings now exhaust it quickly.

  5. ACE reports make refunds and drawback workable

    By filtering ACE exports in Excel, Kim identified every entry with IEEPA duties and recovered millions for some clients and $12,000 for a small business. For drawback, she filters out Section 232 entries, which are not eligible.

Advice to the Professional

Kim Daniels From Kim Daniels

Bring in a broker or trade attorney before the goods ship, not after they reach port. Build entry templates for repeat products so a filing drops from an hour or two to about 15 minutes, and flag perishables only when they really are perishable.

Use AI to describe a product, then verify the code in the official HTS and have the client confirm it. Declare full value, including assists. Kim lost a client who refused, and she had to report it. A CF-28 can arrive years later, and a CF-29 can follow.

Conclusion

Kim’s walkthrough shows how many checks sit behind one import entry. Transparency between buyer and seller, a broker who knows partner agency rules and careful use of ACE data keep goods moving and money recoverable.