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2026 Footwear Tariff & Customs Digital Conference

Live digital sample review! A MUST-ATTEND EVENT FOR ANY COMPANY IMPORTING SHOES INTO THE U.S. Join the conversation to learn more on how to mitigate the impact of tariffs in this era of historic and unprecedented duties.

Athletic or non-athletic?! The answer means a huge difference in duty rate!

Footwear Tariff & Customs Digital Conference
Plan to join us for our 2027 event!

Be sure to join us live – we do not record the sample review, and you will have the opportunity to ask classification questions to our expert panel, including a U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) National Import Specialist who is the footwear classification decision-maker at CBP. This event is a great opportunity to ask classification questions in an off-the-record setting.

We will show pictures of your samples to the expert panel on-screen and get their views on how the footwear would be classified. Why does it matter? There are more than 400 ways to classify a shoe, and small changes mean a huge difference in tariff rates — and costs for companies!

One more thing: CBP’s Apparel, Footwear & Textiles Center team will join us to talk about forced labor prevention, IP protection, and enforcement trends.

*June event attendees: this FDRA event was worth 3 Continuing Education Units (CEUs): ICPA-062026-3-0226

2026 AGENDA

1:00 pm — Quarterly Update from U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP)

  • Eric Batt, Center Director, Apparel, Footwear, and Textiles Center, U.S. Customs & Border Protection
  • U.S. Customs & Border Protection Apparel, Footwear, and Textiles Center Team Members

1:30 pm — Key Trade, Customs, and Supply Chain Issues: What Companies Need to Know

  • Irina Vaysfeld, Principal, Trade and Customs Practice, KPMG
  • Matt Priest, President & CEO, FDRA
  • Thomas Crockett, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, FDRA

2:15 pm — Interactive Virtual Sample Review

  • Stacey Kalkines, National Import Specialist, Footwear, U.S. Customs
  • Aliya Grosfeld, Laboratory Director, Tariff Solutions, LLC
  • John Pellegrini, Customs Specialist, FDRA

4:00 pm — Discussion, Wrap-Up and Adjournment

2026 CLASSIFICATION & CUSTOMS EXPERTS

Stacey Kalkines
National Import Specialist, Footwear
U.S. Customs

Aliya Grosfeld
Laboratory Director
Tariff Solutions, LLC

John Pellegrini
Customs Specialist
FDRA

Irina Vaysfeld
Principal, Trade and Customs Practice
KPMG

Eric Batt
Center Director, Apparel, Footwear, and Textiles Center, U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Linda Birck
Customs Entry & Liquidating, U.S. Customs & Border Protection

James Snider
Assistant Center Director, Apparel, Footwear & Textiles Center, U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Thomas Crockett
Senior Vice President, Government Relations
FDRA

Matt Priest
President & CEO
FDRA

THANK YOU TO OUR 2026 SPONSOR