AI & Tech: an Importer's Cheat Sheet

Importers are being squeezed from two directions. Tariffs have raised the cost of every entry, and CBP has raised the bar on how you're allowed to use technology to keep up. Getting either one wrong is expensive. This cheat sheet is the short version of both: where the legal line sits on AI, and where duty savings are hiding in entries you've already filed.

What you'll learn

Where the legal line sits

• Clarification on the January 2026 CBP HQ Ruling H350722. What it means for AI in trade compliance
• Six ways general-purpose tools like ChatGPT and Copilot fall short of that standard

Where duty savings hide

• Free trade agreement eligibility you may already qualify for, Chapter 98 special provisions that go unclaimed because nobody flagged them before entry, and Chapter 99 codes applied to products that never owed them

The key questions that separate real vendors from the rest

• How much more volume your team can take on, and whether the tool frees your licensed staff for advisory work or just speeds up data entry
• What breaks first when you double your volume, and why a vague answer means it will not actually grow your pipeline