US Customs and Border Protection has announced a 90 day deferral of duty payments for importers suffering financial hardship due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A notice will be published in the Federal Register within the next few days.
In order to qualify for the deferral, an importer must demonstrate a significant financial hardship. The importer’s operation must be fully or partially suspended during March or April 2020 due to orders surrounding Covid-19. As a result of such suspension, the gross receipts of the importer for March 13-31, 2020, or April 2020 must be less than 60 percent of the gross receipts for the comparable period in 2019. Importers do not need to file proof in order to be eligible for the duty deferral, but must maintain documentation establishing that it meets the requirements for relief.
The duty deferral does NOT apply to the following situations:
· Entries subject to 301 duties (e.g., China and European Union)
· Entries subject to Section 232 duties (e.g., steel and aluminum)
· Entries subject to 201 duties (e.g., washing machines, washing machine parts, and solar panels)
· Entries with antidumping and/or countervailing duties
· Entries where duties have already been paid
· Payment of bills for duties, taxes, fees, and interest determined to be due upon liquidation or reliquidation
· Payment of any penalty or liquidated damages due to CBP
· Payment of fees authorized pursuant to 19 USC 59c (except for merchandise processing fees and dutiable mail fees)
US Customs has issued two messages with further guidance – CSMS 42423171 and CSMS 42421561.
Vandegrift will be reviewing our customers’ options and taking the appropriate actions.