On Sunday April 19, 2020, the President issued an Executive Order on the deferral of estimated duty payments and Customs announced a temporary extension of ninety (90) days for certain importers to pay estimated duties, taxes, and fees on formal Customs entries (including FTZ consumption entries) filed in March and April 2020.  For importers paying estimated Customs duties through Periodic Monthly Statements (PMS), immediate action by 11:59pm EST today may be required.  No interest will accrue during this deferred payment period.  However, this temporary extension does not apply to Customs entries with any merchandise subject to trade remedy duties under Sections 201, 232, or 301, or to antidumping or countervailing duties (ADD/CVD).  The deadline for payment of duties on liquidated or reliquidated entries, as well as the payment of Customs penalties or liquidated damages, has not been extended.

To qualify for the temporary extension, an importer must be experiencing a “significant financial hardship,” defined as follows: 

(1) the importer’s operations have been fully or partially suspended due to orders from a competent governmental authority limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings due to COVID-19; and

(2) as a result of the suspension, the gross receipts of the importer for March 13-31, 2020 or April 2020 are less than 60% of the gross receipts for the comparable period in 2019. 

Clients are urged to confirm that they can meet the “significant financial hardship” standard.  While importers are not required to file documentation establishing a significant financial hardship, such documentation should be retained and is subject to Customs review.

As this temporary payment extension is limited to Custom entries filed in March and April 2020, and does not apply to entries with any merchandise subject to trade remedies and/or ADD/CVD, qualifying importers must file separate Customs entries until April 30, 2020 of merchandise subject to only normal Customs duties and merchandise subject to trade remedies and/or ADD/CVD (pursuant to 19 C.F.R. § 141.52) to take advantage of the extended payment deadline for the first entry group.  Customs has published detailed payment instructions, which require eligible importers or their filers to schedule delayed payment dates.  Clients filing under PMS today that have entries with merchandise not subject to trade remedies or ADD/CVD can transfer individual entries to a future Customs statement date 90 days in the future or a PMS date 90 days in the future.  Importers paying estimated duties, taxes, and fees through PMS must change the payment due date by 11:59pm EST on April 20, 2020 from April 21, 2020 to July 22, 2020.

Please contact Marshall Miller, Brian Murphy, Sean Murray, or Ryan Thornton with questions or for assistance.