Penalties may be imposed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection when a company commits a prohibited act or fails to do something required under laws CBP enforces for itself or another federal agency. Examples include importers committing fraud or negligence while entering goods, customs brokers failing to exercise responsible supervision and control, and exporters and shipping lines not filing (or late filing) required shipment documentation. Penalty amounts for infractions can be substantial, imposing significant financial hardship.
CBP can and often does mitigate or settle penalty claims, taking into account mitigating factors like a company’s adherence to reasonable care standards, cooperation with CBP’s investigation, self-disclosure of the violation, and any steps it takes to address the problem. However, the company must generally request such action and typically must act quickly in doing so.
ST&R has a long and successful track record of helping companies get penalties reduced or cancelled, and our experienced attorneys and professionals are skilled at helping companies identify and implement the strategies that best fit their needs.
Why Choose ST&R for Penalties
Experience: International trade has been ST&R’s sole focus for nearly 50 years, and our staff has decades of experience both pursuing penalties from within federal agencies as well as defending against them on behalf of businesses.
Teamwork: Our close-knit team leverages all available resources to craft effective penalty mitigation strategies for individual clients based on real-time experience.
Domain expertise: Our team of exceptionally knowledgeable and experienced professionals has handled and adjudicated these matters while working at CBP, in some cases training their enforcement officials.