COVID-19 – Payment Instructions for 90-Day Postponement of Payment for the Deposit of Certain Estimated Duties, Taxes, and Fees

On April 19, 2020 President Trump issued an executive order to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to extend deadline for duty payments for importers suffering significant financial hardship during the national emergency created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 20, 2020, CBP issued the CSMS# 42423171 which states: “The Secretary of the Treasury and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be postponing for 90 calendar days the deadline for payment for the deposit of certain estimated duties, taxes, and fees for importers experiencing a significant financial hardship due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).”  

Significant financial hardship is defined as: 

“The operation of such importer is fully or partially suspended during March or April 2020 due to orders from a competent governmental authority limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings because of COVID-19, and as a result of such suspension, the gross receipts of such importer for March 13-31, 2020 or April 2020 are less than 60 percent of the gross receipts for the comparable period in 2019.“

At this time, importers who do qualify do not need to file any additional documentation to be eligible for this temporary postponement.  However, the importer must maintain documentation showing “significant financial hardship” as the qualification for the postponement. 

Temporary postponement does not apply to the following:

• Antidumping duties,
• Countervailing duties,
• Duties assessed pursuant to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962,
• Duties assessed pursuant to Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, and
• Duties assessed pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

Please review this information carefully and if you believe you qualify for this postponement, please contact your local C J representative.