AES Filing and the $2,500 Schedule B Rule: The Export Paperwork Behind Your Miami Order

Most resellers think about customs on the receiving end — duty, VAT, the broker in Kingston or Santo Domingo. Fewer think about the paperwork on the US side, and that's usually where a shipment quietly stalls for two days at the airport.

None of this is hard. It's just unfamiliar. Here's what happens to your order after it leaves our dock.

The $2,500 Schedule B Threshold That Triggers a Filing

Electronic Export Information, or EEI, is filed in the Automated Export System. Under the Foreign Trade Regulations it's required when the value of the commodity classified under each individual Schedule B number exceeds $2,500, or when an export license is required regardless of value. The International Trade Administration explains the requirement and links the underlying regulation.

Read that carefully: the threshold is per Schedule B number, not per shipment. A mixed order can carry several classifications, and each line is measured on its own.

Why a 30-Unit Phone Order Usually Crosses It

Run the math on your own order. Thirty units of a budget Android at $85 each is $2,550 — barely over. Thirty refurbished iPhones at $260 is $7,800, comfortably over. Thirty entry-level handsets at $70 is $2,100, and that line sits under the threshold on its own.

So a typical mixed 30-unit order lands in the gray zone where one line files and another doesn't. That's fine. It just means somebody has to look at the classifications instead of guessing, and it's the reason your forwarder asks for a commercial invoice with line-level detail rather than one lump sum.

Getting the Schedule B Number Right

The Schedule B number identifies the goods in the AES filing, and it has to be reported before export. The US Census Bureau publishes the full Schedule B classification list and staffs analysts who will help classify a product if you're unsure. Misclassification isn't a paperwork nuisance — it's the thing that gets a shipment held.

Who Files, and the ITN Your Carrier Needs Before Loading

The filer is the US Principal Party in Interest, or a US authorized agent acting on their behalf. That party prepares the EEI and provides proof of filing — or the correct exclusion or exemption citation — to the carrier, who has to cite it on the commercial loading document before the goods go on the plane or vessel.

In practice, for most of our buyers the freight forwarder in Miami files as authorized agent. That arrangement depends on how the transaction is structured, so confirm it in writing with your forwarder rather than assuming. The output you care about is the Internal Transaction Number the system returns. No ITN, no loading.

Where FOB Miami Ends and Your Responsibility Begins

We sell FOB Miami on a 30-unit minimum, wire transfer. That means we get the goods to the agreed point in Miami and title passes there. From that moment the freight, the export filing coordination and the destination clearance run through you and your forwarder.

That isn't us stepping back from the shipment. It's the reason we hand over a clean commercial invoice with line-level values, model numbers and quantities — because your forwarder builds the filing from that document, and a vague invoice creates a delay nobody can fix from the tarmac.

A Short Checklist Before Your Next Shipment

• Ask for a commercial invoice broken out by model and unit value, not a single total.

• Confirm in writing who is filing the EEI and under what capacity.

• Get the ITN or the exemption citation in writing before the cargo is tendered.

• Keep the filing records with your import documents. Your destination broker will thank you.

Everything above is the boring half of wholesale, and it's the half that separates buyers who get their stock on time from buyers who don't. If you want to see what a clean order looks like end to end, start with our wholesale cell phones catalog, our Caribbean shipping hub, and the ordering questions covered in our FAQ.

Questions about documentation for your destination? Message us on WhatsApp or register as a new client to get this week's price list.