Tariff Dual-Heads: The Gray Survival Tactic of Import Agents

When Mr. Zhang received a notice from the customs requiring him to make up a tariff of 120,000 yuan, he stared at the unfamiliar "second head" on the customs declaration form and fell into deep thought - this line of small print is becoming a new game point in the import industry.

In the traditional import process, the "operating unit" and the "consignee" on the customs declaration form are usually the same entity. Under the import agency tariff dual-heads model, professional agencies like Zhongshitong act as the operating unit to assume the responsibility for customs declaration, while the actual cargo owner hides behind as the consignee.

• First Head: The agency with import and export qualifications (such as Zhongshitong)
• Second Head: The end customer who actually pays for the goods

Ms. Li's case of importing cosmetics is quite representative:

• Breaking through Qualification Barriers: Evading the cumbersome self-import and export filing procedures
• Room for Tax Optimization: Utilizing the regional tax preferential policies of the agency
• Risk Isolation Mechanism: The agency takes primary responsibility during customs inspections

When a cross-border e-commerce company declared through the dual-heads model, the entire batch of goods was detained due to misclassification by the agency. This situation of unequal rights and responsibilities is triggering new industry disputes:

• The risk of the cargo owner losing control over customs declaration details
• The joint liability caused by the agency's false qualification
• The compliance challenges under the trend of the customs' "penetrative supervision"

With the upgrade of the customs' intelligent system, the dual-heads model may face:

• Technical Extinction: Achieving full-chain traceability through blockchain
• Standardized Transformation: Establishing a standardized agency service agreement
• Ecological Reorganization: Forming a risk-sharing mechanism between the agency and the cargo owner