Struggling with rising US tariffs? You are not alone. The world’s biggest e-commerce brands are already adapting and winning.
In this 30-minute recording, Glopal CEO Patrick Smarzynski and International Tax & Duty Expert Hans-Peter Höllwirth reveal the strategies leading merchants use to cut their US import costs while staying competitive.
You will learn:
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How US Postal Injection helps reduce last mile costs
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Why B2B2C models lower duty exposure and protect margins
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Practical steps you can take right now to optimise duty and tax
The webinar was originally broadcast live on 18 September 2025 at 9am BST.
Q&A
Below are a full list of attendee questions with expert answers, including many we did not have time to cover during the session.
Sarah: How long does the B2B2C setup usually take to get up and running?
Answer: If you already have a U.S. subsidiary, 2–3 months of onboarding is realistic. If you don’t, creating and activate a U.S. subsidiary can take around 6 months.
Ramon: Is the USPS method valid for large/high value parts or is it focus to small/standard parcels?
Answer: USPS ships parcels up to around 30 kg and 3 meter in length, and offers parcel insurance for values up to $25,000. Beyond that, you’ll need express carriers or freight options to ensure compliance and insurance coverage.
Charles: How do you actually calculate tax and duty upfront, so it can be included in product prices?
Answer: Glopal's product duty & tax calculator can be integrated into any existing product catalogue pricing engine to estimate the applicable duties and taxes per market, based on the given net price, product category (HS code), and country of origin. If necessary, the HS code can be determined automatically on-the-fly.
Katie: Where the manufacturer is India, we are having to apply extra fees of 50% which is higher than your examples. Do you find that companies wrapping 50% extra into the product cost are still seeing a better conversion rate (when it makes the product price so expensive)?
Answer: The total reciprocal rate for products made in India is indeed 50% (25% initial + 25% penalty for importing Russian oil). Adding the cost to the product price still leads to higher conversion rate as opposed to adding the duty costs at checkout. If possible, consider increasing the product price by a smaller percentage and have the rest of the duties being absorbed by your profit margin.
Ahmed: Can’t you just leave the customer to pay tax and duty on arrival?
Answer: No, that option is no longer viable. Duties must be paid to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) before the goods are released. Consequently, carriers demand pre-payment or a pre-arranged D&T billing account to cover those charges.
Jamie: Are we saying that by having a U.S. subsidiary you by-pass the “Country of Origin” duty?
Answer: No, the "country of origin" reciprocal tariff applies in all cases. Instead, the subsidiary model lowers the duty base (and, hence, the payable duty).
Charles: What are the requirements for setting up a US subsidiary, do we need staff or physical premises, or can it be done in a lighter way. Or is this option only for premium brands?
Answer: You don’t need to hire employee(s) or a warehouse in the U.S. However, ensure the established U.S. subsidiary subcontracts some of its activities, such as marketing, customer support, and returns management.
Sophie: Does the B2B2C setup require a completely different documentation process compared to a standard cross-border setup?
Answer: Yes, the documentation process differs significantly. The customs invoice must mention the U.S. subsidiary as the importer, and the declare the inter-company transfer prices instead of buyer facing retail prices. The commercial invoice must be issued by the U.S. subsidiary. Furthermore, to ship orders consolidated, a master customs invoice has to be issued. Glopal automatically generates all those documents in their required format.
Matthew: So you can’t bypass COO duties. You’re just declaring a lower value in the initial “B2B” sale.
Answer: Correct. The B2B2C setup does not avoid any tariffs, but lowers the duty calculation base.
Vicente: Which is the minimum transfer price that can be used without ‘having problems’? Could it be lower than 50% final price?
Answer: The lower declared value has to comply with the "arm’s length principle”: The transfer price must be a fair market price, comparable to an uncontrolled transaction made by a third party.
Jamie: Could we not just change the price anyway to customers? Do US customs ever require payment proof from the merchant?
Answer: We strongly advice against lowering the declared value arbitrarily. Customs conducts random and targeted inspections to ensure compliance, and can request supporting documents - such as commercial invoices and proof of sales - to back declared product values. That’s why transfer pricing policies need to be documented rather than arbitrary.
Daniel: Where would be the best place to produce goods for the US market?
Answer: Considering tariffs alone, the only way to completely avoid duties is to produce goods domestically, in the U.S. Alternatively, Canada and Mexico are currently still favourable due to the USMCA free trade agreement which exempts a wide range of products from any duties - including reciprocal tariffs. However, it is important to note that U.S. tariff rates have been highly volatile in recent months, making them an unreliable basis for long-term sourcing decisions.
Tom: What about HS codes, is there any way to automate this if you’ve got a diverse product catalogue?
Answer: Yes, AI-based classification engines, like Glopal's, can reliably map products to HS codes automatically, provided that the available product description is containing relevant information (such as product type and material composition).
Inna: The inter-company price can’t be just halved, what is the process in setting up this price to be compliant?
Answer: Merchants can choose between several valid transfer pricing methods, all of which have to meet the “arm’s length principle”: The transfer price must be a fair market price, comparable to an uncontrolled transaction made by a third party.
The most common transfer pricing method for B2B transactions is the resale price method: Start from the retail price and subtract a reasonable gross margin (and customs duties) to get to the transfer price. The “reasonable gross margin” is determined by looking at the gross margin of a comparable, unrelated third-party supplier.
Seb: A key requirement for B2B2C is to have a transfer pricing policy in place i.e. the ‘50%’ cannot just be made up. From what I’ve researched this is very expensive to put in place. Does Glopal offer a solution?
Answer: Your transfer pricing policy must be based on activities of your U.S. subsidiary and must be set up with a tax professional to ensure compliance and coverage in case of custom/tax inspections in the U.S. or by your departure country.
Glopal currently does not directly offer such professional tax services. We recommend to contact several tax professionals to compare and challenge legal setup costs. Anyway, keep in mind that those costs, while potentially substantial, apply only once and open the doors for ongoing, bigger savings.
Jamie: FedEx have suggested us to add a comment in to the commercial invoice “Personal Use Indicator: Specify if the shipment is ‘PERSONAL USE - NOT FOR RESALE’” to help with certain FDA requirements and relief from Manufacturer MID. What does this do?
Answer: It flags the shipment as personal consumption rather than resale, which can sometimes relax FDA or manufacturer ID (MID) requirements. However, this is only appropriate for genuine personal-use shipments, not commercial goods.
Laura: Can you explain how consolidated customs consignments work and why they are useful for merchants?
Answer: Consolidated customs consignments group parcels with the same destination point of entry into one master shipment. A master invoice lists all products included in the master shipment. The method can generate considerable customs clearance fee savings: Fees, typically in the range of $5 to $15 per consignment, only have to be paid on the master shipment, not on each individual parcel.
While traditional parcel consolidation increased supply chain complexity and delivery times, modern shipping services from DHL, FedEx, and UPS combine those cost saving benefits with fast direct delivery.
Paul: Do you have any survey or market data from US consumers regarding their understanding of the impact on tariffs? Are they willing to pay higher prices?
Answer: We don't have any survey or market data yet, but our operational experience with our client base confirms that sales volume drops notably with increased prices. Therefore, we recommend implementing available mitigation strategies and considering a partial absorption of the duties into your profit margin to minimize the impact on sales.
Seb: If you increase the price, don’t you have to still pay customs anyway on behalf of the customer, but based on the higher price?
Answer: Good point. To avoid that, Glopal always generates the customs invoice with the reverse calculated net product value (the price before duties and taxes) to ensure customs applies the net value as customs value.
Ramon: We have some courier breakdowns charging 200% duty on Asian products, would this be correct?
Answer: That sounds unusually high. Some products do face total tariffs of 50–100%, but 200% is typically a miscalculation or includes penalties, VAT, or courier surcharges.
Laura: Can your system generate or adapt customs documents?
Answer: Yes, generating customs documents is one of the core features of Glopal's cross-border shipping solution.
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