Section 232 steel, aluminum, and copper tariff rate guides, BIS comment-letter walkthroughs, and metals-import compliance news, written by Andy Gaber (founder, Digital Empire Holdings).
August 25, 2026 · Andy Gaber
A worked example plus the exact paperwork chain that lets an importer legally use the factory-to-middleman invoice — not the middleman-to-you invoice — as the CBP dutiable value.
August 24, 2026 · Andy Gaber
A 1962 national-security tariff law is quietly rewriting your landed cost. Here is the recurring BIS inclusions cycle every SMB importer should watch: derivative-articles coverage, melt-and-pour rules, comment windows, and mitigation levers.
August 24, 2026 · Andy Gaber
First Sale can cut your duty base by 20-40% — or expose you to a five-year rate advance if you get one paperwork element wrong. The traps most SMB importers hit and how to build a defensible file.
August 24, 2026 · Andy Gaber
Three overlapping U.S. tariff regimes with different agencies, different calendars, and different mechanics. This comparison shows which one governs each of your HTS codes and how to layer them without paying twice.
August 20, 2026 · Andy Gaber
A structural template for Section 232 comment letters, drawn from what BIS staff actually cite in preambles, with the specific sections that get read and the ones that get skimmed.
August 14, 2026 · Andy Gaber
What the BIS-2026-0331 public comment window means for metals importers, how the 14 proposed derivative-article categories work, and how to submit a comment before the Aug 27 2026 deadline.
August 14, 2026 · Andy Gaber
Current Section 232 steel tariff rates, the derivative-article expansion, the metal-content exemption, and how the proposed BIS-14 categories could change exposure, current as of the Jun 8 2026 modification.