Who we work with
Clients and case studies
Customs Release Group works with US importers sourcing from Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and the broader Southeast Asia region. Most of our clients are brand-side buyers or logistics managers dealing with high SKU counts, tight distribution windows, and increasing compliance pressure on supply chain traceability. We handle the customs side so their operations teams are not guessing at clearance timelines or scrambling for documentation at port.
Sectors we serve
Apparel and footwear
Apparel importers from Vietnam and Cambodia typically deal with high shipment frequency, complex HTS classification across garment categories, and, increasingly, UFLPA compliance requirements for cotton-containing goods. We maintain documentation packages covering Xinjiang supply chain attestation, mill-level sourcing records, and CBP entry filing. Seasonal cadence and first-sale valuation elections are standard parts of our work with apparel clients.
Home goods and furnishings
Home goods importers, particularly those bringing in upholstered furniture and wood products from Vietnam, face AD/CVD exposure in addition to standard entry requirements. Our team monitors scope rulings and circumvention findings actively, and we maintain rate advance deposits where appropriate. Many clients in this sector also participate in C-TPAT, which we support through partner vetting documentation and annual security profile updates.
Consumer electronics
Electronics importers need accurate HTS classification at the component and finished-goods level, correct FCC and CPSC marking confirmation prior to release, and ISF filings that account for split shipments from multiple assembly facilities across Thailand and Vietnam. We work with clients who are managing both direct factory shipments and consolidations through regional hubs.
Specialty retail
Specialty retailers, including outdoor, sporting goods, and wellness brands, often source across several Southeast Asia countries and deal with products that span multiple duty programs, including GSP (where applicable), Section 301 exclusions, and country-of-origin determination for multi-component goods. These clients typically need both day-to-day brokerage and periodic classification audits as their product lines evolve.
Direct-to-consumer brands
DTC brands importing finished goods face a different rhythm than traditional retail: tighter inventory buffers, higher cost sensitivity to clearance delays, and growing expectation from customers and investors around supply chain transparency. We support DTC clients with both formal entry and Section 321 de minimis strategy where product structure allows, and with the documentation infrastructure needed for ESG reporting on sourcing and logistics emissions.
Recent work
UFLPA documentation turnaround for a Vietnam-origin cotton program
A women's apparel brand was holding three shipments at CBP following a UFLPA detention notice on cotton-blend wovens from a Vietnamese manufacturer. Their previous broker had not prepared a Withhold Release Order compliance package. We assembled a complete documentation file, including mill certificates, yarn sourcing declarations, and spinning facility audit records, and submitted to CBP's UFLPA Entity List review queue. All three shipments received release decisions within 18 business days of submission. The client has since moved their full import program to us and we now prepare detention-readiness packages proactively for each new style category.
AD/CVD rate management on Vietnamese wood bedroom furniture
A mid-sized home goods importer had been filing their Vietnamese bedroom furniture under an incorrect AD/CVD rate, resulting in underpayment flagged during an internal compliance review. The exposure was approximately $340,000 across 14 months of entries. We worked with their outside trade counsel to prepare a prior disclosure submission to CBP, reclassified the relevant HTS subheadings, and established a corrected rate deposit schedule going forward. The prior disclosure resolved without penalty assessment. We also identified a separate set of entries eligible for a scope ruling exclusion that offset a portion of the retroactive liability.
Lane-level emissions reporting for a Thailand-to-US electronics lane
A consumer electronics distributor needed Scope 3 Category 4 logistics emissions data for their annual ESG disclosure, covering ocean freight from Bangkok to Los Angeles and inland drayage to their Dallas distribution center. Their previous carrier data was incomplete and methodology was inconsistent across providers. We pulled AIS-verified vessel data for 22 shipments across the prior fiscal year, applied GLEC Framework-compliant calculations for the ocean leg (averaging 8.4 kg CO2e per TEU-km on that lane), and provided a signed methodology note suitable for third-party assurance review. Turnaround from data request to deliverable was 11 business days.
Working on a shipment with complex compliance requirements? Talk to our team before it arrives at port.
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