No Change to AD/CVD Deduction on DDP Entries When Costs Differ From Cash Deposit, CBP Says

Importers can't make changes to the amount of antidumping or countervailing duties deducted from the transaction value even if there is a difference between the original cash deposit amount and the actual amount subsequently assessed on Delivered Duty Paid entries, CBP said in a May 26 ruling recently released by the agency. The ruling is a result of an internal advice request from the Industrial and Manufacturing Materials Center of Excellence and Expertise about AD/CV duties on entries of softwood lumber, CBP said. The ruling addresses multiple questions involving how and when such AD/CV duties can be deducted from the value based on a "representative entry."

The Center "has received hundreds of Post Summary Corrections (PSCs) for value changes for entries involving foreign importers of record who used Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) terms of sale," it told CBP. The PSCs involve claims in which AD/CV duties were either "inadvertently not deducted from the entered value at the time of entry, or the type 03 entry" had the duties "declared at time of entry, but was missing the other related case," it said. "The PSCs result in the submission of the ADD or CVD and a reduction in the entered value as a result of a deduction of these additional duties."

While the Commerce Department may eventually issue a liquidation rate for the AD/CV duties different from the estimated rate at the time of entry, those entries aren't "subject to change," CBP said. "It is incumbent upon the importer to provide CBP with the necessary information to ascertain the value of the entered merchandise at the time of entry," the agency said. CBP generally prefers that the duty deducted "is the actual duty paid," but "that deduction is limited to the extent to which the amount of the actual duty paid is included in the invoice price paid by the buyer," it said. "In other words, if the estimated duties included in the invoice price are greater than the actual duties assessed, an importer may only deduct the actual duties it pays."

The original AD/CV duties can be deducted from the invoice value "if they are part of the invoice amount and they are separately identified," CBP said. The same is true for deductions from the entered value on PSCs, but those duties must also be identified, it said. An "invoice between the importer and the importer’s broker for purposes of customs clearance would be acceptable" for identifying the AD/CV duties "if it, or an attachment to it, provided the computation of all the deductions from the total invoice value as required," CBP said. Relying only on the more general statement used in the representative entry that AD/CV duties may be included in the invoiced amount is "insufficient," CBP said.

Although non-dutiable charges and calculations can be provided on Customs Form 7501, additional information may still be requested, CBP said. "If the non-dutiable charges are only provided on the CF 7501 and the documentation required by the regulations is not provided at entry summary, the CEE or port may certainly request the information required and the importer should be able to provide it without delay," the agency said.