AI for customs brokers
Load it with the commercial invoices, costed BOMs and filed 7501s, and it returns classification briefs with the CROSS rulings cited, landed cost by SKU, and entry audits with the remedy for each finding.
Classification-brief-8414.docxExampleClassification Brief: 5.5 kW Rotary Screw Compressor Kit, Model RS-55K
Merchandise
The kit is a 5.5 kW oil-injected rotary screw compressor, a 270-liter receiver tank, a refrigerated air dryer and the interconnecting piping, shipped together on one skid. The components are installed together at the user’s site to deliver dried compressed air to a single shop air line.
Analysis
Note 4 to Section XVI classifies separate components that together perform one clearly defined function in the heading for that function. The kit’s function is supplying compressed air, which heading 8414 names under GRI 1. Separate entry of the receiver under heading 7311 and of the dryer was considered and rejected, and two CROSS rulings on skid-mounted compressor packages reach the same result.
CheckedBoth CROSS rulings cited were rechecked, and neither has been modified or revoked.
How it works
- 1
Open the shipment folder
Drop in the commercial invoices, packing lists, bills of lading, costed BOMs, supplier origin letters, spec sheets and the 7501s you already filed, with no need to sort them first.
- 2
Ask for the work product
Some days it is a classification brief or a landed cost build, other days an entry audit or a tracing package for a detained shipment. Each comes back as a workbook, a memo or a marked-up review.
- 3
Review, then decide
Every code shows the GRI path and the rulings behind it, every value points to the invoice line, and what it could not reconcile is flagged instead of filled. The licensed broker classifies, values and signs, and nothing is sent to ACE.
Ask it for
“Classify this spec sheet for the 5.5 kW rotary screw compressor kit against CROSS rulings and the section notes, and show every heading you rejected.”
Classification-brief-8414.docx“Test the kitchen faucet BOM for USMCA qualification by tariff shift and RVC, then draft the supplier letters for the two plants in Monterrey.”
USMCA-RVC-faucet-BOM.xlsx“Build landed cost for the 12 SKUs on the May 18 ex-Ningbo shipment, with MFN, every Chapter 99 measure in force, MPF, HMF and brokerage.”
Landed-cost-May-Ningbo.xlsx“Audit the 86 Kestrel Knitwear entries filed in Q2 against the invoices, and list each misclassification, missed assist and MID built off the trader’s address.”
Entry-audit-Q2-findings.xlsx“Trace the detained knit tops to cotton origin through the POs, mill invoices and payment records, and build the applicability review package.”
UFLPA-tracing-PKG-2214.xlsx“Run the order of review on the LUX-9 laser module datasheet, USML and specially designed first, then the CCL, and flag what the Hyderabad lab’s access requires.”
ECCN-analysis-LUX-9.docx
Inside the Trade Compliance & Customs mode
Tariff classification
Takes a product to a candidate HTS code and shows the GRI path, the notes and the CROSS rulings, then drafts the ruling request when two headings compete.
Country of origin and FTA qualification
Tests the product-specific rule of origin, works the tariff shift and RVC numbers, and drafts the certification data elements and letters each supplier signs.
Landed cost and tariff exposure
Prices the duty stack that applied on the entry date, MFN plus every Chapter 99 measure, then MPF, HMF and brokerage, with the exposure by SKU and origin.
Customs entry audit and corrections
Audits filed entries against invoices, valuation and origin, then routes each finding to its remedy, a PSC, a protest, drawback or a prior disclosure.
Export classification and licensing
Runs the order of review, USML then the CCL, to a USML category, ECCN or EAR99, flags deemed-export exposure and screens parties and their owners.
Supply chain traceability and due diligence
Traces goods back to raw material origin from POs, payments and transport records, and assembles the applicability review package CBP expects within 30 days.
Shipping documentation pack
Drafts commercial invoices, packing lists, BOLs, certificates of origin and hazmat papers that agree with the Incoterm and the letter of credit terms.
Voluntary self disclosure
Lays out the conduct, dates, root cause and corrective actions for a BIS, DDTC or OFAC disclosure, so counsel has a complete record to decide on.
Compliance risk assessment
Rates products, customers, countries and channels with the data behind each rating, and gives no credit to a control nobody tested.
Compliance monitoring and testing
Builds the test plan, pulls the sample, runs the transaction testing and writes up findings that hold up on retest.
Compliance policies and procedures
Writes importer manuals, broker SOPs and export procedures, each required element traced to the statute or regulation that calls for it.
Regulatory applicability and change
Explains what a new tariff measure or final rule does to your catalog, which entry dates it turns on and where current practice falls short.
Legal authority verification
Checks that the statute, note, ruling or Federal Register item you relied on actually says what you think, and cites it right.
- Office skills
- Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF
- Tools
- Read, edit and write files, Search files, Run code, Search and read the web, View images
- Connectors
- SharePoint, Google Drive, Gmail, and additional custom connectors
- House style
- Your fonts, layouts and rules, on every file
Who it’s for
Licensed customs brokers, entry writers, classification specialists and trade compliance staff at importers, exporters and brokerages, through to global trade compliance directors.
Questions
Can an AI tool give the final HTS code for our entries?
No, not the final 10-digit code. CBP’s ruling on AI classification aids treats classifying entry-bound goods beyond six digits as customs business, which only a licensed broker can do, and dismisses the tool’s disclaimer as worthless. Ultramarine Work produces candidate codes with the GRI path, the notes it applied, the CROSS rulings it leaned on and the headings it rejected, and it flags the conflict where two headings compete. The broker makes the call on the 7501.
Who is liable if the code is wrong?
Neither your reasonable care duty nor your broker’s supervision duties move to software. Section 1592 penalties run at twice the lost duty for negligence and four times for gross negligence, and how the code was decided is what separates honest error from negligence. The mode names the ruling or note behind every code and will not guess past what it could not confirm. You decide whether a code is strong enough to file, and a binding ruling settles close calls.
Can we put client invoices and supplier pricing through it?
Yes, and here is where the data goes. Ultramarine Work changes files only in the project’s folder. When a request needs it, it can read files elsewhere on your computer, never passwords, keys or app data, and you can turn that off in settings. The model runs on Paper Instruments’ servers, so the content it works on is sent there to be processed. Paper Instruments is SOC 2 Type II, and our security and compliance details are on our compliance page. Notice to clients before using it is your compliance counsel’s call.
Can it build the tracing package after a UFLPA detention?
It can, but only from records that exist. The mode reads the POs, invoices, bills of lading and mill records in the folder, traces the cotton back through spinning, fabric and cutting, and builds the supplier flow chart, payment trail and summary tracing report CBP asks for. Every link with no document behind it is flagged. It cannot manufacture evidence for a gap, and gaps are what CBP notices. Request an extension in writing before the 30 days run out.
What happens when the tariff schedule changes mid-quarter?
Point it at the Federal Register notice or the revised schedule, and the affected SKUs come back re-priced on the stack in force for each entry date, which decides the duty when a measure starts or lapses mid-week. It searches the web and reads pages, so it names its sources and marks what it could not check. Every Chapter 99 line still needs your eyes before it goes on a quote to a customer.