Customs Duty Postponement

US Customs and Border Protection to Postpone Payment of Some Customs Duties

Work with Your Customs Brokers to Find Out How to Participate

The Treasury Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have agreed to postpone for 90 calendar days the payment of certain Customs duties, taxes and fees for importers experiencing significant financial hardships because of Covid 19. No interest will be charged on the deferred payments. Not all importers will qualify for deferment, nor are all duties, taxes, and fees subject to the postponement, so work with your customs brokers to see if you can benefit from this program.

Of significance is that the China 301 duties that many TVC members are currently paying ARE NOT subject to postponement. Nor can importers postpone payment of other "special duties," including antidumping duties, countervailing duties and "section 232" duties being assessed on steel, aluminum and certain products made of those materials.

The postponement is temporary and applies only to imported merchandise entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption in March and April. Customs, however, IS NOT returning payments already made, so it appears the relief is targeted toward companies that pay duties via the periodic monthly statement (PMS). If you are one such company, then you have until 11:59 pm today, April 20, 2020, to make any adjustments to your April PMS. Those who pay duties on a single pay basis or via daily summary can start deferment now, and if you utilize deferment then you have the responsibility to schedule your postponed payments according.

You will be considered as experiencing financial hardship if:

Your import operations are fully or partially suspended during March or April, 2020 due to an order of a government authority that limits commerce, travel or group meetings; and,
As a result of this suspension, the importer's gross receipts for the period March 13-31, 2020 or April 2020 are less than 60% of gross receipts for a comparable time period in 2019.

Any questions about this issue can be directed to Rick Van Arnam, The Vision Council's regulatory affairs counsel, at rvanarnam@barnesrichardson.com or Michael Vitale, The Visions Council's Senior Technical Director and Lens Division Liaison, at mvitale@thevisioncouncil.org.