Compliance Issue Spotting
Identifies facts that may require additional review, supporting documentation, internal escalation, or professional advice.
About & Intended Use
Built for Better Compliance Decisions — Not Automated Customs Filing
Straightforward ITC helps importers, compliance teams, customs professionals, and businesses identify potential customs issues, organize relevant facts, and understand where additional review may be required.
The platform is designed for compliance assessment, research, informational materials, documentation review, and issue spotting. It is not an ACE or ABI filing system, a customs brokerage service, or a substitute for entry-specific professional judgment.
What Straightforward ITC Does
Straightforward ITC is a decision-support platform for U.S. customs and international trade compliance. Its tools help users evaluate facts, identify potential risks and opportunities, understand relevant legal frameworks, and prepare for more informed discussions with customs brokers, attorneys, suppliers, and internal stakeholders.
Depending on the tool, reports combine rules-based logic, public trade data, and analysis generated with the help of artificial intelligence. AI-generated content can be incomplete or wrong and should be reviewed before it is relied on. See the Privacy Policy for how information is processed.
Structured Analysis
Organizes user-provided facts against relevant compliance considerations and presents supporting factors, contrary factors, uncertainties, and missing information. Some tools also provide a score or likelihood rating that summarizes how a position appears on the facts provided.
Research and Informational Materials
Explains customs concepts, legal frameworks, documentation expectations, and questions users should consider before making compliance decisions.
Internal Compliance Support
Supports internal compliance self-assessments, product reviews, identifying records to request from suppliers, and discussions with qualified professionals.
Document Review
Reviews uploaded documents — such as commercial invoices, packing lists, entry summaries, and reports exported from ACE — against the facts provided and against each other to flag inconsistencies and gaps. Information drawn from documents is used only for that review; it is not formatted for or transmitted to CBP.
Blank Declaration Templates
Some Chapter 98 tools provide blank sample declarations based on the declaration language in 19 CFR 10.1 and 10.8. The templates are not filled in from the user’s answers; they must be completed, verified, and signed by a person with knowledge of the facts.
Important limitations
What Straightforward ITC Does Not Do
Straightforward ITC is intentionally not designed to replace the functions of a licensed customs broker, qualified legal counsel, or U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
- File customs entries or transmit entry data to CBP
- Operate as an ACE or ABI filing platform
- Prepare or submit CBP Form 5106 for users
- Complete, sign, or submit declarations on a user’s behalf
- Format data drawn from uploaded documents for entry or for transmission to CBP
- Execute customs broker powers of attorney or act as an intermediary in their formation or execution
- Make binding CBP determinations
- Guarantee CBP acceptance of a classification, origin, value, duty treatment, or other position
- Create an attorney-client relationship merely through use of the platform
- Provide final entry instructions unless a separate, appropriately structured professional-review service is expressly offered in the future
How to Use Straightforward ITC Reports
Review the Facts
Confirm that the information entered into the platform is accurate, complete, and supported by appropriate records.
Evaluate the Analysis
Review the supporting indicators, contrary indicators, uncertainties, documentation gaps, and questions identified in the report. Treat any score or rating as a summary of those factors, not as a conclusion.
Obtain Additional Review When Needed
Before relying on a position for a customs entry, determine whether review by a licensed customs broker, trade attorney, technical expert, or CBP ruling is appropriate.
Product-Specific Decisions Require Care
Customs classifications, country-of-origin determinations, valuation positions, Chapter 98 claims, duty exemptions, marking conclusions, and other trade-compliance positions often depend on detailed product facts, transaction facts, manufacturing facts, documentation, and applicable legal authority.
Straightforward ITC may identify potentially relevant provisions, factual indicators, risks, documentation needs, and questions for further review. Some tools also suggest entry-related details: the Chapter 98 returned-goods and repairs tools suggest a Chapter 98 statistical reporting line or suffix from the facts entered, and some tools consider the reported filing and liquidation status of a specific entry to explain which correction options may still be available. These are suggestions to confirm with a licensed customs broker or trade attorney, not instructions. The platform should not be treated as making a binding CBP determination or as directing a user or customs broker regarding what information must appear on an entry.
Appropriate uses
- Identifying facts that may support or undermine a Chapter 98 claim
- Identifying missing documents
- Comparing product facts with regulatory criteria
- Understanding why an HTSUS code may require further review
- Organizing questions for a customs broker or attorney
- Documenting internal compliance review
Uses that generally require qualified review
- Selecting a final ten-digit HTSUS classification for entry
- Determining the entered value
- Making a final country-of-origin or marking determination
- Claiming a duty exemption or special tariff treatment
- Responding to a CBP inquiry or correcting a prior entry
- Preparing or filing customs forms
- Deciding what information must be submitted to CBP
Regulatory Design Principles
Straightforward ITC is designed with attention to the distinction between general customs-compliance resources and activities that may constitute customs business under U.S. law.
The platform’s design takes into account U.S. Customs and Border Protection guidance concerning online platforms, automated tools, classification assistance, entry-data preparation, and the role of licensed customs brokers, including CBP Headquarters Ruling H350722, dated January 16, 2026.
That ruling emphasizes that the practical operation of a tool matters. A disclaimer does not convert entry-specific customs work into general informational content. For that reason, Straightforward ITC’s intended-use limitations are reflected not only in legal notices, but also in how the platform’s tools, workflows, reports, and outputs are designed.
When Professional Review May Be Appropriate
Licensed customs broker
For entry preparation, entry filing, final ten-digit classification review, communication regarding a specific entry, or other activities within the scope of customs business.
International trade attorney
For legal interpretation, complex origin analysis, valuation issues, enforcement matters, prior disclosures, protests, ruling requests, penalties, or other legal questions.
Binding CBP ruling
When a business requires greater certainty regarding classification, origin, marking, valuation, or another issue eligible for prospective CBP ruling treatment.
Other technical specialist
When product composition, manufacturing, engineering, medical use, scientific characteristics, or other technical facts are material to the customs analysis.
No Attorney-Client Relationship
Use of Straightforward ITC does not create an attorney-client relationship with Straightforward ITC or any affiliated person or entity.
Any legal services would require a separate written engagement agreement identifying the client, the scope of representation, and the applicable terms.
User Responsibility
Users are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information they provide and for the customs, legal, operational, and business decisions made based on that information.
Importers remain responsible for exercising reasonable care and for the accuracy of declarations, filings, certifications, and records submitted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Users should retain appropriate supporting records and independently verify material conclusions before using them in connection with an entry, claim, certification, or response to a government agency.
Frequently Asked Questions About Intended Use
Concise answers about how the platform fits into a responsible customs-compliance process.
What is Straightforward ITC designed to do?
As described above under “What Straightforward ITC Does,” the platform supports customs-compliance research, issue spotting, and internal review. It is a decision-support resource, not a replacement for entry-specific professional judgment.
Is Straightforward ITC a customs broker or customs brokerage service?
No. As detailed under “What Straightforward ITC Does Not Do” above, the platform is not a licensed customs broker or customs brokerage service and does not file entries, transmit data to CBP, or execute customs broker powers of attorney. For entry preparation, filing, or communication about a particular entry, work directly with a licensed customs broker.
Can a Straightforward ITC report be used to prepare a customs entry?
A report can help a user understand issues, organize facts, identify documentation gaps, and prepare questions for a qualified professional. It should not be treated as an entry-preparation document or as instructions regarding what must be declared to CBP. Before information from a report is used in connection with a particular entry, the underlying facts and conclusions should be independently reviewed, and appropriately qualified customs or legal review should be obtained when warranted.
Does the platform provide final ten-digit HTSUS classifications?
No. As explained under “Product-Specific Decisions Require Care” above, the platform may help examine HTSUS information and flag provisions for review, but its output is not a final classification selected for entry. The HTS Sanity Check reviews a code the user enters; it does not select one. The Chapter 98 returned-goods and repairs tools suggest a Chapter 98 statistical reporting line or suffix from the facts entered — for returned goods, based on the ordinary classification the user provides — but these suggestions do not classify the article under Chapters 1–97 and must be confirmed against the current HTSUS by a licensed customs broker. Final classification decisions require review of complete product facts, the tariff text, and professional judgment.
Does use of the platform create an attorney-client relationship?
No. As explained under “No Attorney-Client Relationship” above, using the platform — including completing a questionnaire or receiving a report — does not create an attorney-client relationship with Straightforward ITC or any affiliated person or entity.
Are the platform’s conclusions binding on CBP?
No. Straightforward ITC does not make determinations on behalf of CBP, and its reports do not bind CBP. Users should independently verify material conclusions, since customs treatment depends on detailed facts and the governing legal authority. When greater certainty is needed, a binding CBP ruling may be appropriate.
When should a user consult a licensed customs broker or international trade attorney?
As summarized under “When Professional Review May Be Appropriate” above, the right reviewer depends on the issue: a licensed customs broker for entry preparation, filing, or entry-specific communications; an international trade attorney for legal interpretation, origin or valuation issues, enforcement matters, or ruling requests; and technical specialists when product or manufacturing facts are material.
Can the platform help organize information for a prospective CBP ruling request?
Yes. Straightforward ITC may help identify relevant facts, supporting records, unresolved questions, and areas requiring additional technical or legal analysis before a prospective ruling request is prepared. That organizational work can make a later discussion with counsel or another qualified professional more efficient. The platform does not itself guarantee that an issue is eligible for ruling treatment, prepare a filing-ready request, represent a requester before CBP, or predict the result CBP will reach.
Why do reports identify uncertainties, contrary indicators, and documentation gaps?
Customs conclusions often turn on facts that are incomplete, disputed, technically complex, or supported by records outside the platform. Showing uncertainty and contrary indicators helps users understand the strength and limits of an analysis instead of mistaking a streamlined output for a definitive answer. Documentation gaps also point to practical follow-up: confirming facts, contacting suppliers, retaining records, escalating internally, or obtaining qualified professional review before relying on a position.
What do the scores and likelihood ratings in some reports mean?
Some tools summarize their analysis with a score or a rating such as “Likely Qualifying” or “Strong Indication of Substantial Transformation.” A score reflects how the facts entered — and, in some tools, the evidence reported as available — line up with the criteria the tool evaluates. It is not a determination of eligibility, origin, classification, or value, and it is only as reliable as the information provided. CBP, or a qualified professional reviewing the complete facts, may reach a different conclusion.
Does the platform use artificial intelligence?
Yes. Depending on the tool, reports combine rules-based logic, public trade data, and analysis generated with the help of artificial intelligence. AI-generated content can be incomplete or wrong, which is one reason reports should be reviewed before they are relied on. The Privacy Policy explains how information is processed by our AI service provider.
How does CBP Headquarters Ruling H350722 relate to the platform’s design?
As explained under “Regulatory Design Principles” above, HQ H350722 was not issued to Straightforward ITC and is not a CBP approval or certification of the platform — Straightforward ITC treats it as relevant regulatory guidance when designing its tools, workflows, and intended-use boundaries.
Use the Tools as Part
of a Responsible Compliance Process
Straightforward ITC is built to help users ask better questions, identify issues earlier, and make more informed compliance decisions. It works best as part of a broader process that includes accurate records, internal review, and qualified professional judgment where appropriate.