U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) issued bulletin CSMS #42097586 on March 20, 2020, advising that payment of import duties may be deferred under certain circumstances due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Specifically, importers may request additional days for payment of estimated duties, taxes, and fees in response to the emergency. Those requests will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Any importer wishing to file any such a request at this time is instructed to do so via e-mail to the CBP Office of Trade, Trade Policy and Programs at the address OTentrysummary@cbp.dhs.gov.
A copy of the bulletin is available at the link below here.
CBP has also indicated that a more comprehensive and longer term extension policy may be forthcoming. Additional detail regarding this or an expanded program will be published as a Notice in the Federal Register.
