On Friday, March 20, 2020, at 4:50pm, U.S. Customs and Broder Protection (CBP) issued Cargo Systems Messaging Service CSMS Message 42097586 which states:

Due to the severity of Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will approve on a case by case basis additional days for payment of estimated duties, taxes and fees due to this emergency. Please note we are working on a future message that will provide further information. Please watch your CSMS messages.

NOTE: CBP has confirmed that the March 20, 2020 debit authorizations for the Periodic Monthly Statements and the daily statements have been transmitted to the Department of Treasury. Please work directly with your financial institution if you wish to prevent these funds from being withdrawn.

Requests should be directed to the Office of Trade, Trade Policy and Programs at OTEntrysummary@cbp.dhs.gov.

This initial CSMS message does not clearly define how many “additional days” will be granted. CBP has verbally advised that it would be granting 10 days to approved companies, but that a 90-day extension was in discussion, which would align with the extension currently granted by the IRS to tax filers. We are awaiting a Federal Register Notice and updated CSMS message for clarification.

Note of Caution: CBP’s system automatically generates a liquidated damages penalty for non-payment and late payment of duties, fees, and other amounts owing. Companies which have their financial institutions deny payment should expect to receive such notices. It is our understanding that providing the CBP authorization email should be sufficient to cancel the penalty notice, assuming that the amounts of duties, fees, and other amounts owing are payed within the extension period.

Steps to take:

Request permission for duty deferrals by sending an email request to CBP OTEntrysummary@cbp.dhs.gov.
Receive permission from CBP.
Notify bank not to allow ACH payment for 3 consecutive days.

Notify CBP

If you are interested in seeking this short-term duty deferral, please send an email to OTEntrysummary@cbp.dhs.gov and include the following information:

Full company name and address
Federal Tax ID number (EIN)
Estimated monthly duty payments your company currently makes
Specific customs statement #s (Please note: If you are on monthly statements, please send the monthly statement numbers, not the daily statement numbers.)
An explanation of the impact of the coronavirus on your company and how a duty deferral would benefit your company
The full name and title of the person making the request (This should be an officer of the corporation.)

Receive Approval

Example of CBP message:

Thank you for your message. Yes, you are approved for additional days for payment due to the COVID-19 emergency. Please note we are working on a future message that may provide an additional time-frame for payment. Please watch your CSMS messages. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Notify Bank

Notify your bank as CBP has no way to stop the request for money coming out of your account. You will need to alert the bank to not pay CBP for 3 consecutive days, as this is how many days CBP will attempt to withdraw payment.

New Payment Date

There currently is no mechanism in CBP’s system to allow us to resend the statement for automatic withdrawal. Therefore, it is not clear at this point how the money is then paid. In normal circumstances, CBP would issue a debit voucher for which you would need to arrange payment separately.

Notice of Penalty

CBP will attempt to stop late filing penalties if they are accidentally issued. You will have the ability to request cancellation with the approval email you received.

For more information, please contact your local Noatum Logistics USA (Formerly MIQ Logistics) representative.