Due to the increasing strain on the international shipping industry, pushing costs up more than fivefold in the past year, Coppersmith has had to revisit our monetary policy with customers. Coppersmith Inc. is a Customs Broker, yet we have become the banking middleman asked to advance charges for services which are not our responsibility and can easily be paid by customers directly to the vendors whom they have chosen.
In the past, we have outlaid duty, freight, storage, and demurrage charges to expedite the clearance and release process. However today, these advanced payments are no longer industry standard, since payment of these services is available to the importer via online portals and ACH duty payments.
Therefore, we are asking that each customer pay their service fees directly to the vendor who provides the service. If Coppersmith provides the freight routing, insurance, clearance, and delivery, then we will certainly advance those fees and charge you accordingly. But, shipping costs, terminal fees, chassis rentals, and demurrage/detention costs are all the responsibility of the cargo owner and should be paid directly to the vendor or they will be assessed an advance fee for this special service.
Customs duties should always be paid directly to CBP on your own ACH account—ask us for an application.
As we advised in our August Newsletter, we too have moved to electronic payments of our invoices. Please ask your Coppersmith representative for our bank information to pay us via ACH.
Having our customers take care of their own monetary responsibilities, enables us to concentrate on providing the best customer service in the industry.