Compare two suppliers by import cost, not unit price alone

• Use one written specification, quality requirement and quantity for both sellers.
• Record each Incoterm with its named place; identify which freight and insurance legs the price already covers.
• Use the same destination and planned entry date; verify actual manufacturing origin independently for each offer.
• Have customs value and U.S. HTS classification reviewed from the product and transaction facts.

A supplier’s Incoterm allocates some contractual costs and risks; it is not a customs-value formula. Do not compare an FOB invoice and a CIF invoice as if each included the same transport legs.

Hypothetical exercise: Supplier A quotes $10,000 for the goods and a separate $1,200 freight quote; Supplier B quotes $10,500 with $600 of separately quoted remaining transport. Known goods-plus-transport subtotals are $11,200 and $11,100 respectively. Those arithmetic subtotals do not establish customs value or final landed cost; insurance, duties, government fees, services and AD/CVD are still unknown.

Once product classification, origin, transaction facts and entry date are supported, estimate applicable duties for each supplier and compare them alongside separately quoted goods and logistics. A different origin is appropriate only when the actual goods qualify under the relevant origin rule; a different export port cannot create that fact.

• Keep a dated assumption sheet for each offer and update stale quotes.
• Ask a broker about uncertain classification, valuation, measures or AD/CVD before committing to margin.
• Choose only after the material unknowns have been resolved or consciously budgeted as risk.