Tariffs are essentially agreed-upon rates that a carrier offers to a customer. Tariffs are usually given in the form of a percentage discount, subtracted from the general rates offered to the public. A Tariff will usually govern all LTL shipments given to a certain carrier by the shipper. Using tariffs can become problematic when a shipper has several carrier relationships, and then must compare pricing on each shipment among each of several tariffs.
Recently in the news, the United States issued more sanctions against Russia. These sanctions are a direct result of the recent incident with Ukraine and Crimea. Usually in these types of situations, sanctions could diminish trade activity between two nations.
The commercial invoice is an essential part of the international shipping process. This document, along with other important documents like the bill of lading, is considered a requirement in order to ship ocean freight.