U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issues binding advance rulings and other legal decisions in connection with the importation of merchandise into the United States. Advance rulings provide the international trade community with a transparent and efficient means of understanding how CBP will treat a prospective import or carrier transaction.
For example, a ruling letter may address the tariff classification or appraised value of merchandise, the liquidation of an entry, or the exclusion of merchandise from entry. As such, ruling letters facilitate trade by enabling companies to make business decisions that are dependent on how their goods will be treated on importation.
CBP also issues other binding decisions such as internal advice decisions letters (covering current import and carrier transactions), and protest review decisions (appeals of CBP decisions on completed transactions).