LOUISVILLE, Ky— In two days, last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Louisville seized four shipments containing 962 pieces of counterfeit designer watches, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. The items were deemed to be counterfeit by CBP’s Centers of Excellence and Expertise, the agency’s trade experts, and if genuine, would have had a combined Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) over $18 million.

The shipments arrived from Hong Kong and China on December 17 and 18. When CBP officers examined the shipments to determine the admissibility of the goods, they found 459 bracelets displaying the logos of Cartier, Chanel, Fendi, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Van Cleef and Arpels, 43 pairs of earrings with Van Cleef and Arpels and Cartier logos, 20 necklaces with Van Cleef and Arpels logos, and 440 watches bearing the Rolex logo. The items were seized for infringing on the designer’s protected trademarks. The shipment was heading to residences in Arizona, Virginia, Florida and New York and had the items been real, the MSRP for these products would have been $18.81 million.

In our experience people import counterfeit goods for two primary reasons:

1. People get carried away with online shopping and buy things for themselves and for family for personal use
2. People open up online and brick-and-mortar boutiques where they sell “inspired designs” (ahem, counterfeit).

Whatever the reason, for some reason, people are surprised to get a sheet of paper in the mail that says they owe a ton of money for something that they paid only a few dollars for. Worse yet, they’re stuck dealing with the penalty.

How does CBP collect the penalty?

CBP collects the penalty in a variety of ways. CBP has the power to intercept tax refunds and credits through the Treasury Offset Program and/or by bringing a civil action in Federal district court for the penalty amount.

What if I get a penalty for counterfeits from CBP?

If you get a penalty for counterfeits from CBP, you should definitely file a petition for mitigation of the penalty. You could get a substantial reduction in the penalty amount through mitigation offered by the Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures Office. We have a lot of experience of getting great results for clients on their CBP penalty cases, including substantial reductions and even some cancellations. You can see some history of our success is HERE.

Of course, results will vary from case to case, and no result could be guaranteed. Customs maintains a list of mitigating factors and aggravating factors that it looks for, and which should part of the argument and analysis of any petition that is filed for them; without a careful and thoughtful analysis of those factors that customs looks for, you may end up pay more than necessary.

If you have had your merchandise seized or have received a notice of penalty from customs, call our office at (734) 855-4999 to speak to a customs lawyer about the possibility of getting your penalty reduced, or e-mail us through our contact page. We are able to assist petitions and in penalty cases by customs