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What line-level import records you need before any drawback conversation.

A drawback conversation can become expensive and confusing if it begins with a broad statement like "we import and export." The better starting point is line-level evidence. Before a company asks a licensed specialist to evaluate claim-facing questions, it should know whether import, cost, product, and downstream records can be matched at a useful level of detail.

The entry-level record is not enough.

Total annual duty paid is a helpful management signal, but it is not enough for a serious pre-claim screen. A total does not show which products carried the duty, which entries relate to later exports or other downstream activity, or whether the company can support a chain of records. The screen needs line-level records because the economic story usually lives below the summary.

The first record set is the import line. That may come from ACE, broker reports, entry summaries, or internal import logs. Useful fields include entry number, entry date, importer, supplier, product description, HTS field, country, quantity, value, duty, additional tariff amounts, fees, invoice reference, shipment reference, and any SKU or item identifier. This screen does not classify products or decide whether the HTS treatment is right. It only asks whether the field exists and whether it can be connected to operating records.

The matching key matters.

The most important practical question is often: what key connects the import line to the rest of the company? A SKU can be useful if it is stable across broker, ERP, warehouse, and sales systems. An invoice number can be useful if it appears in both broker and ERP records. A lot, serial, shipment, or BOM relationship can be useful if the company can explain it without manual speculation. If no key exists, the company may still have a business issue, but it probably does not yet have a clean screen.

Matching does not have to be perfect to justify a screen. It does have to be honest. A 35 percent match rate with a clear explanation may be more useful than a 90 percent match rate created by fuzzy assumptions. The screen should separate strong matches, weak matches, unmatched records, and records that need specialist interpretation. That discipline protects the company from refund hype and protects any later specialist from a messy handoff.

Downstream records are part of the same question.

Import lines only show one side of the story. Before any drawback conversation, the company should identify whether it has line-level export shipments, re-exports, returns, rejected goods, replacements, destruction records, or other downstream activity that could matter to a licensed specialist. Useful fields may include shipment date, customer, destination, SKU, quantity, invoice, sales order, lot, serial, RMA, destruction certificate reference, or warehouse transaction.

The screen does not decide whether those records create eligibility. That is claim-facing work. The screen decides whether the records are organized enough to ask the right professional question. If a company cannot identify the downstream activity at a line level, it may need a records project before it needs a specialist review.

Finance records close the loop.

The third record set is financial. Duty and tariff costs should be tied to landed cost, inventory, COGS, or margin analysis. Without that connection, the company may be able to discuss customs records but still struggle to explain materiality to leadership. A screen should show whether the duty-cost pool is large enough to matter after data gaps, matching limits, and review costs are considered.

Finance does not need to expose confidential files during a first conversation. A non-confidential inventory of systems and fields is enough to decide whether a paid screen is worth considering. The sensitive records should wait until authority, scope, and secure transfer are approved.

A practical pre-screen checklist.

Before a company pays for analysis, it should be able to name the broker or internal owner of import records, the system of record for inventory and COGS, the owner of export or downstream activity records, the date range under review, and the likely matching keys. It should also know who can approve a controlled file-transfer path. If those answers are available, the screen can move quickly. If they are not, the first job is internal ownership and data mapping.

The best outcome of a screen is not always "go." A stop recommendation can save time. A borderline result can create a focused cleanup list. A go recommendation can produce a specialist-ready packet with the records, gaps, model, and questions separated. That is the standard Trade Recovery Data is built around: evidence before claims, records before promises, and licensed professionals for claim-facing work.