Practical lessons from 30+ years moving freight, sourcing factories, and winning government contracts. No fluff, just what works.
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The complete field guide to the 11 trade terms that decide who pays for what, who insures what, and who eats the loss when something goes wrong.
Read article →Thirty years of lessons sourcing from Guangzhou and across Asia. What works, what does not, and how to avoid the mistakes that cost importers six figures.
Read article →Four original lists, one 2024 strategic expansion, an exclusion process, and tariff rates ranging from 7.5% to 100%. Here is what your category actually pays.
Read article →One has FMC licensing, issues bills of lading, and assumes carrier liability. The other arranges transport without taking on carriage risk. The distinction matters when something goes wrong.
Read article →The conventional wisdom says full containers are always cheaper. The conventional wisdom is wrong below 15 CBM.
Read article →Twelve data elements. Filed 24 hours before loading. Skip it or get it wrong and the penalty is $5,000 per violation, plus a hold guaranteed.
Read article →Five kinds of CBP exam. Each has different triggers, different timelines, and different costs. Knowing which one you got tells you what to do next.
Read article →Base duty, Section 301, MPF, HMF. Four numbers that decide whether your landed cost works or wrecks the unit economics.
Read article →FOB vs DDP fully unpacked: cost ownership, risk transfer, customs liability, and which Incoterm actually serves the buyer.
Read article →One Incoterm ends at the factory door. The other ends at your warehouse. The handover decides who eats the cost of every snag in between.
Read article →EXW vs FCA, fully unpacked: who handles export clearance, who pays for loading, and why the Incoterms 2020 committee almost merged them.
Read article →Filed wrong, this one-page form holds up your first import for weeks. Filed right, it takes 30 minutes and you never deal with it again.
Read article →The honest answer: anywhere from 1,000 to 24,346, depending on which class of ship. Here is the breakdown that actually matters for your shipment.
Read article →Topic Coverage
The areas we cover, deeply. Pick a beat and dig in.
NVOCC mechanics, trans-Pacific lane strategy, Section 301 tariff math, customs clearance gotchas.
Factory vetting, AQL standards, OEM vs ODM, Walmart/Amazon/Costco compliance, supplier negotiation.
SAM.gov navigation, NAICS codes, IDIQ vs BPA vs GSA, BAA compliance, federal RFP response.
Lessons from Guangzhou since 1995, regional manufacturing differences, diversifying to Vietnam & India.
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