Customs Modernization Business Group Seeking Extensions for Liquidation, Other Timelines

CBP should look at “extending the liquidation of all unliquidated entries by 90 or 180 days,” the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization told the agency in a March 23 letter. Those extensions “would help ensure that importers who may be eligible for duty refunds (e.g., based on Section 232 or Section 301 product exclusion approvals) do not miss opportunities to pursue such refunds administratively due to staffing issues caused by COVID-19.” BACM offered its support for deferring collections of customs duties and asked “that payments related to past liabilities, such as denied protests, also be temporarily deferred.” BACM suggested several other items it said “would help ease the burden on the trade community during this time.”

BACM indicated there are some legislative efforts to allow for flexibility in CBP's statutorily required timeline for protesting CBP decisions. “We also encourage CBP to support efforts in Congress to provide a temporary extension of the 180-day period to protest CBP decisions,” the group said. The agency should also “prioritize and expedite the processing of pending duty refund requests, whether filed as post-summary corrections or protests (e.g., duty refund requests based on published Section 301 product exclusion approvals),” the group said.

CBP should also extend response deadlines for CBP Forms 28 and 29 “on a blanket basis for an additional 30 days,” it said. BACM also added its voice to requests to push forward the date of the transition from NAFTA to the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. “Simply put, the trade community is not, and will not be, ready to switch from NAFTA to USMCA on June 1, 2020. Accordingly, BACM urges the administration to delay entry into force until January 1, 2021,” it said. Multiple industry groups have made requests of CBP recently to help with business continuity (see 2003240048 and 2003230039).

Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the letter.