CBP Working to Fix Problems With Aluminum Exclusions

CBP is working to resolve an issue with some product exclusions for the Section 232 tariffs on aluminum that are being rejected mistakenly, a CBP official said during a Dec. 5 call with software developers. CBP plans “to have a remedy next week” but “because they are retroactive, if you must pay the duty because the system is apparently rejecting them, you always have [the Post Summary Correction (PSC)] process,” she said. The importer may also choose to delay entry, she said.

One broker on the call objected to the idea that those options would result in the importer being “made whole.” If the exclusion is valid “and the system simply won't accept it, then our option is either to pay the duties or basically face a liquidated damage case for late file, which in my opinion is not exactly being made whole,” the broker said. The CBP official responded that “if you get a liquidated damages case for a late file and it was due to no problem from the trade perspective and you happen to know, and I know, that we had a problem uploading the product exclusions then that's a mitigating factor.” As a result, “I'm absolutely certain, at this point, you will be made whole because it would probably be canceled because it was not your fault.” Asked whether CBP would put something in writing to that effect, the official said the agency would if approved by CBP's lawyers.

The CBP official also noted that some exclusions have simply expired. “Some of the product exclusions for aluminum, I wanted the trade to be mindful, if the anniversary date has been exceeded or the quantity, they will not be reactivated,” she said. “So if your product exclusion expired in June or July of 2019, we probably will not reactivate those,” she said.