Saturday, June 16, 2012

Exporting From the US and the USPPI


With President Obama’s export initiative in place, a greater focus is on sales by US sellers to the foreign marketplace.  One important party in these transactions is the person or entity that would be considered the US Principal Party in Interest (USPPI) in export transactions, and particularly so when considering the filing the electronic export information (EEI), which is the export declaration made to the US Census Bureau through its AES Direct website. 

By definition, the USPPI is that who receives the primary benefit of a transaction, be it monetary or otherwise.  This may be the seller of the product or the manufacturer when it sells its goods directly to an entity in a foreign area. 

There are however, many variations for which determining the definition of the USPPI turns, which depends on what their involvement in the transaction is.

If a U.S. manufacturer sells goods as a domestic sale to a U.S. buyer (wholesaler/distributor) and that U.S. buyer sells the goods for export to a FPPI, then the U.S. buyer (wholesaler/distributor) must be listed as the USPPI in the EEI.

If a U.S. order party directly arranges for the sale and export of goods to a foreign entity, then the U.S. order party must be listed as the USPPI in the EEI.

If a customs broker is listed as the importer of record when entering goods into the United States for immediate consumption or warehousing entry, then the customs broker may be listed as the USPPI in the EEI if the goods are subsequently exported without change or enhancement.

If a foreign person is listed as the importer of record when entering goods into the United States for immediate consumption or warehousing entry, then the customs broker who entered the goods, may be listed as the USPPI in the EEI if the goods are subsequently exported without change or enhancement.

Understanding who the USPPI actually is matters, not solely in your typical export transaction, but also for identifying the record keeping requirements of a USPPI in the case of a “routed shipment.”  For more information about this, click here.

Questions/comments?  Post below or email me at clark.deanna@gmail.com
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16 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 27, 2012 at 11:32 AM

    Hello Deanna, I have a customer who ordered our product and he is not form the US. We have agreed that we will ship his order to a freight forwarder in Houston TX. We have completed our responsibility when the goods got delivered to the freight forwarder's address. Now they are holding the shipment becuase they wanted us to fill out the USPPI form. This customer is not from the US and there is no other company that is receiving or exporting the goods that's from the US. Is it possible that a broker can act as the USPPI for this shipment? I really appreciate your response on this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 30, 2012 at 11:44 AM

    Hello Deanna, is the USPPI form for commercial sales or purchases only or is it necessery for private sales from the US to Germany too? I bought several used goods - no electronics - from a private person in USA. I instructed a German forwarding company to ship the crates to Germany and I gave them a complete list of the goods, the total price and seller's and purchaser's address. Is there any need to fill the USPPI form?
    I really appreciate your response on this topic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. DeannaSeptember 5, 2012 at 5:53 AM

    Hi Anonymous,

    The USPPI is a party to the transaction - it is not a form, so I am not quite sure about what form you are referring to. Feel free to email me with more details and I can try to better respond to your inquiry. You can email me at clark.deanna@gmail.com

    Did your purchase have a value over $2,000? Has your shipment arrived?

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousDecember 13, 2012 at 4:07 AM

    Hi Deanna, can a reseller be the USPPI?..example;CUSTOMER bought a product direct from 'A', but 'A' bought that product from another party 'B' in which 'B' bought that product direct from the United States,and sell it to 'A',in which 'A' sell to customer.....can party 'A' be the USPPI?

    ReplyDelete
  5. DeannaDecember 19, 2012 at 5:56 AM

    Hello Anonymous,

    I'm afraid your inquiry reads more like a law school exam question than something that can really be answered via a blog post. I invite you to instead send me an email with the actual details and we can go from there if you haven't already done your AES filing. Thank you!

    ciao ciao,
    Deanna

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2013 at 2:27 AM

    Hi Deanna

    I hope you can help. We are a UK company returning product from the US to the UK that was used in a pilot study. The product was a temporary import to US. Our shipping company has asked me to fill out an SED form and has asked me to fill in sections 1a and 1b. I am confused by this. Is this appropriate for our situation? Many Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  7. DeannaFebruary 13, 2013 at 6:01 PM

    Hi Anonymous, I would need you to contact me in order to understand your particular situation better. Please feel free to email me your contact information at clark.deanna@gmail.com and I can plan to follow up with you directly. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJuly 17, 2013 at 1:37 PM

    Hi Deanna, Can you help in this scneraio: We are a US parent company with our own EIN (Party A). We have a Singapore subsidiary (Party B) which has negotiated a contract where they buy Party A's product in the US and sell to their customer in China (Party C). The terms of the sale from Party B to Party C is FCA US Port of Export. The first sale is from Party A to Party B, but the product is delivered to Party C's freight forwarder in Chicago (the port of export). Party A is finished with its responsibility as a domestic sale at the time of delivery to Party C's freight forwarder in Chicago.... is that right? Party B owns the goods at the forwarder's facility in Chicago, then sells FCA, Port of Export (Chicago) to Party C, so party A is not involved in the export sale at all. BUT Party B is not physically present in the US. Title 15, Part 30
    Foreign Trade Regulations (30.3) does not specifically address this scenario, how should it be structured, should Party B be listed as the USPPI even though they are not physcially present in the US? Or should Party A be the USPPI even though they are not a party to the export transaction? Please help.

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousJuly 19, 2013 at 1:30 PM

    Hi Deanna, This is a bit more clear, please respond when you can.
    Hi Deanna, Can you help in this scenario: A US parent company with its own EIN (Party A) has a Singapore subsidiary (Party B) which has negotiated a contract where Party B buys Party A's product in the US and sells to Party B's customer, which is located in China (Party C).



    The terms of the sale from Party B to Party C is FCA US Port of Export.



    The first sale is from Party A to Party B prior to the sale from Part B to Party C, and the product is delivered to Party C's freight forwarder in Chicago (the port of export).



    For the USPPI question, Party A is finished with its responsibility as a domestic sale at the time of delivery to Party C's freight forwarder in Chicago, so they cannot be the USPPI, right?



    Party B owns the goods at the forwarder's facility in Chicago, then sells FCA, Port of Export (Chicago) to Party C, so party A is not involved in the export sale at all. BUT Party B is not physically present in the US at the time they sell to Party C. Part B is an entity incorporated in Singapore.



    Title 15, Part 30, Foreign Trade Regulations (30.3), does not seem to specifically address this scenario, how should it be structured, should Party B be listed as the USPPI even though they are not physically present in the US since the FCA terms of sale call for the seller to perform the export clearance activities. Or should Party A be the USPPI because they manufactured and sold the product to Party B in the US prior to Party B's export sale, even though Party A is not a party to the export transaction? Please help.

    ReplyDelete
  10. DeannaJuly 23, 2013 at 1:51 PM

    Hello Anonymous, I tried emailing you back but my server has indicated that we are unable to reach you at the address you provided. Kindly provide me with an email I can reach you at and I can forward you the message. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousAugust 21, 2013 at 8:41 AM

    Hi Deanna

    We are located in Canada

    We have a customer who ordered our product and he is not form the US. As of customers request, we have agreed that we will ship his order to his freight forwarder in Miami FL. We have completed our responsibility when the goods got delivered to the freight forwarder's address. Now they are holding the shipment at a customs warehouse at the Canadian-US border, they explain that the freight forwarder would not be the USPPI on the customs invoice. This customer is from Jamaica not from the US and there is no other company that is receiving or exporting the goods that's from the US. What can I do to ship the product to the freight forwarder in Miami FL and that it is excepted by the US customs. I really appreciate your response on this.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Brian S.November 12, 2014 at 8:59 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousJanuary 22, 2015 at 7:36 AM

    Hi Deanna!

    We buy an item from a US Supplier, and request that supplier to direct ship to Canadian Supplier for some machining. Who acts as the USPPI / Exporter of Record?

    ReplyDelete
  14. DeannaJuly 26, 2015 at 5:48 PM

    Indeed, it's always good to know who you are planning to work with. Thanks for the comment Shipping Exchange!

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete
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