On April 18, 2020, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to provide relief to certain U.S. businesses, including critical supply chains for U.S. manufacturers, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pursuant to this authority, the Treasury Department and Customs and Border Protection today are issuing a joint Temporary Interim Final Rule providing importers, who have faced a significant financial hardship due to the outbreak, with the option for a 90-day deferment period on the payment of duties, taxes, and fees.
Eligible Deferrals. Estimated duties, fees, and taxes for importers experiencing a “significant financial hardship” due to COVID-19 are eligible for postponement. The deferral applies to formal entries of merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, including entries from foreign- trade zones, in March or April 2020.
Significant Financial Hardship. An importer of record meets the “significant financial hardship” requirement if (a) its operations are fully or partially suspended during March or April due to orders from a competent governmental authority related to COVID-19 and, as a result, (b) its gross receipts for March 13-31 or April 2020 are less than 60 percent of its gross receipts from the comparable period in 2019. Importers need not apply to CBP for deferral or obtain an approval from CBP but should maintain documentation as part of their records establishing compliance in the event CBP conducts a post-entry review or audit to ensure compliance.
Eligible Entries. Only entries with no ineligible merchandise may receive duty postponement. Ineligible goods are those subject to antidumping or countervailing duties or Section 232, 201, or 301 duties. Alternatively, CBP is authorizing the filing of two entries for a single entry – for instance, one for goods subject to AD duty and one for goods not subject to AD duty.
Duty Bill, Fee, and Claim Payments. The deferral does not apply to deadlines for payment of (1) bills for duties, taxes, fees, and interest determined to be due upon liquidation, reliquidation, or reconciliation, (2) fees under 19 USC 58c, or (3) any penalty or liquidated damages claim due to CBP.
Interest and Enforcement Claims. CBP will not assess interest during the 90-day postponement period nor impose any penalty, liquidated damages, or other enforcement actions on appropriately postponed entries.
Payment Timeframes. Estimated duties, taxes, and fees paid on a single pay basis or daily statement may be postponed up to 90 days from the payment due date. Estimated internal revenue tax payments may be postponed up to three months from the payment due date. Estimated duties and fees paid via periodic monthly statement may be postponed up to three months, as defined by the 15th working day of the third month.
Payment Instructions. CBP encourages filers to utilize Automated Clearinghouse to the greatest extent possible. Importers and filers are responsible for scheduling payments accordingly as CBP will not adjust statement dates. Any adjustments to the April PMS must be made prior to 11:59 p.m. EDT on Monday, April 20. CBP is deploying updates to the ACE SU statement transaction to provide importers and filers with more flexibility when removing entries from a PMS, including (1) no longer requiring entries removed from statement to be submitted as single pay, (2) removal of remote location filing entries from a PMS, and (3) scheduling the month further out than two months to avoid pushing the periodic daily statement date.
CBP has provided the following email addresses for questions:
tradeevents@cbp.dhs.gov
otentrysummary@cbp.dhs.gov
CBP has also issued two Cargo Systems Messaging Service (CSMS) messages on the program and payment instructions:
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCBP/bulletins/2875383
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCBP/bulletins/2874d39
If you have any questions regarding Duty deferment, please feel free to reach out to your local Radius International office.
Stay safe and healthy!