Customs Valuation & Landed Cost
Assists
Also known as: Assist
Assists are goods or services that a buyer supplies to a foreign manufacturer, free of charge or at reduced cost, for use in producing the imported merchandise — for example materials, components, tools, dies, molds, or engineering and design work performed outside the importing country. Because the value of an assist is part of the true cost of the goods but may not appear in the invoice price, customs rules require its value to be added to the transaction value and apportioned across the shipments it benefits. Overlooking assists is a common valuation error that can lead to underpaid duty and penalties on audit.
The most commonly missed addition to value, and the one that most often surfaces at audit. If you supplied your manufacturer with tooling, molds, materials, designs or engineering — free or below cost — its value belongs in the entered value of the goods it produced. Companies miss it because no money moved at import time.
Where it matters for compliance
- Materials, components and parts incorporated in the goods; tools, dies and molds used to produce them; merchandise consumed in production; and design or engineering undertaken outside the United States — all are assists. 19 U.S.C. § 1401a(h).
- The value is apportioned over the goods produced; the method must be reasonable and documented.
Related terms
Reviewed by a licensed customs broker. Definitions are general information, not legal or customs advice for a particular shipment. Duty rates, tariff programs and agency requirements change frequently.