CBP's Announcement Regarding Postponement of Duties
On April 20, 2020, the Secretary of the Treasury and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have postponed for 90 calendar days the deadline for payment for the deposit of certain estimated duties, taxes, and fees for importers experiencing a significant financial hardship due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This temporary postponement applies to formal entries of merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption (including entries for consumption from a Foreign Trade Zone) in March or April 2020. CBP will not return deposits of estimated duties, taxes, and fees that have already been paid.
This temporary postponement does not apply to any entry, or withdrawal from warehouse, for consumption, where the entry summary includes merchandise subject to one or more of the following:
Antidumping duties or countervailing duties,
Duties assessed pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962,
Duties assessed pursuant to Sections 201 or 301 of the Trade Act of 1974
No interest will accrue for the postponed payment during the 90-day postponement period and no penalty, liquidated damages, or other sanction will be imposed in accordance with this temporary postponement.
This temporary postponement does not apply to other debts to CBP, including but not limited to deadlines for the payment of bills for duties, taxes, fees, and interest determined to be due upon liquidation or reliquidation, deadlines for the payment of fees authorized pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 58c (except for merchandise processing fees and dutiable mail fees), or deadlines for the payment of any penalty or liquidated damages due to CBP.
SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL HARDSHIP
In order to qualify for the postponement of the payment of duties, an importer must have experienced / be experiencing what CBP defines as "significant financial hardship".
An importer will be considered to have a significant financial hardship if the operation of such importer is fully or partially suspended during March 2020 or April 2020 due to orders from a competent governmental authority limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings due to COVID-19, and as a result of such suspension, the gross receipts of such importer for March 13-31, 2020 or April 2020 are less than 60 percent of the gross receipts for the comparable period in 2019.
An eligible importer does not need to file documentation with CBP to be eligible for this relief but must maintain documentation as part of its books and records establishing that it meets the requirements for relief. CBP may also conduct a review of the documentation at a future date to ensure compliance with the requirements.
The complete CSMS messages (#42423171 and #42421561), published by CBP may be found here.
Your Janel representative will be happy to discuss any questions you may have about this announcement and how to proceed if your company qualifies for this temporary postponement.