Our Story
At Star USA, our story started with a simple desire for clearer connectivity in commerce. By demystifying the complexities of international trade compliance, we’ve helped companies of all sizes seize opportunities for growth, profitability, and impact. Through our decades as trusted trade consultants, we’ve expanded our team, services, and customer bases - but our core mission stays consistent.
Founder Story
Star USA was founded on the principle that knowledge is power.
International trade compliance has long been something of an enigma for many enterprises. Recognizing the opportunities in going global and actually achieving them are two different things. Trade rules and regulations are in constant flux, and vary from country to country, region to region, industry to industry, and business to business.
Driven to empower organizations to reach their peak potential by adopting sound trade compliance strategies, Peggy & Mike Easton founded Star USA more than 25 years ago. With their unique brand of positivity and enthusiasm - and a carefully-cultivated professional team - Star USA has propelled countless clients through the labyrinthian maze of global trade.
Starting as a switchboard operator for a large freight forwarding firm, Peggy Easton showed an early aptitude for untangling complex trade rules. Upon earning her Customs Broker License, she became the youngest female Licensed Customs House Broker (LCHB) in the nation at the time. Later tasked with the oversight of several new CHB and freight-forwarding offices in competitive Midwestern markets, she was struck by how trade compliance complexities could confound even the sharpest clients. To help businesses navigate the endless complexity of Customs regulations, Peggy began a homebrew version of what would later become the Customs Broker Course. Demand grew.
In 1996, Peggy founded Star USA. With her was partner & husband Mike Easton, a logistics expert in his own right with decades of supply chain experience in the U.S. Armed Forces, freight forwarding, trucking and as a steamship line executive.
Star USA is recognized today as an industry leader in international trade compliance, continuing to encourage and empower clients through education, organization, and cooperation.
Our Leadership Team
Star USA Culture
At Star USA, whether you are a part of our workforce or one of our clients, your success is our success. Together, we can find genuine significance in that success.
The job should be more than just a job. It should be about making a positive impact on the world around us.
Yes, effective trade compliance does mean strengthening our clients’ market position and profitability, but it also contributes to a shared success. We help ensure the security and reliability of goods people depend on. We work to avoid bottlenecks and regulatory delays, finding more efficient use of important resources. We have respect for the regulatory responsibilities of our international partners and recognize that regulations not only reinforce those relationships, but improve the universal connections forged by trading across countries and cultures.
Cultivating the next generation of rising stars is a priority for us, which is why we have supported paid internships for high school and college students for more than 25 years. Star USA is proud to partner with the Ohio Export Internship Program, a competitive program at select Ohio universities that promotes the global development of Ohio industry alongside Ohio students.
As a workplace, we strive to create an inviting culture that empowers employees who are not only skilled and enthusiastic, but creative, diverse, and dedicated. We’re proud to have a well-rounded team with a broad range of backgrounds and industry experience. Some start at Star USA fresh to the industry; others join us with advanced degrees and industry accolades. Everyone’s input is valued. Everyone has opportunities to level-up their skills and advance their careers.
Star USA is dedicated to an inclusive approach to international trade and fostering a welcoming workplace that is both positive and productive. Our steady commitment to best industry practices, ingenuity, and cooperation is ultimately why people choose to work here - and this is why we also consistently deliver superior results.