CBP Protests and Post-Entry Corrections

CBP is one of the most active federal enforcement bodies in international trade. CBP has broad authority to examine, detain, seize, and penalize imported goods, and it exercises that authority through an expanding set of tools.

Enforcement Mechanisms

CBP’s core enforcement mechanisms include:

Detention and Examination – Customs laws and regulations provide US Customs officers at all 328 ports of entry the ability to stop and search persons or merchandise and make admissibility decisions. Before goods are seized by CBP, they typically go through the detention process. CBP may detain any shipment for examination when it has reason to believe the goods may violate U.S. law.
Seizure and Forfeiture – When CBP suspects that goods violate U.S. law, it can seize the merchandise. The importer then faces a choice: file a petition for relief with CBP’s Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures Office (FP&F), offer a monetary settlement in lieu of forfeiture, abandon the goods, or contest the seizure through the administrative or judicial process.
Liquidation and Reliquidation – Every entry is subject to liquidation – the final determination of duties owed. CBP may liquidate an entry at a higher duty rate than originally estimated, triggering an unexpected duty bill. Importers have limited windows, generally within 180 days of liquidation, to challenge liquidation decisions.
Penalties – CBP has the authority to issue monetary penalties for violations of customs laws. These penalties may be assessed in addition to or in lieu of a seizure or other penalty, such as a referral for criminal prosecution.
Liquidated Damages – CBP requires all importers and customs brokers to have a valid customs bond in place. If an importer breaches an obligation under its bond, CBP may issue a claim for liquidated damages.

Recent Developments: A More Aggressive CBP and DOJ

The customs enforcement landscape has undergone a fundamental shift in recent years. CBP has moved from a trade facilitation entity to an enforcement agency.

Executive Order on Strengthening Customs Enforcement. On June 3, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to intensify customs enforcement as part of a broader trade and national security agenda. The order seeks to enhance certain bond requirements, implement a mandatory domestic asset requirement for importers of record, and require that importers maintain “good standing” in order to continue importing.

Trade Fraud Task Force. On August 29, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) established a dedicated Trade Fraud Task Force with a mandate to identify and prosecute systemic customs fraud including undervaluation, misclassification, false country of origin claims, and evasion of trade remedies. The task force operates across ports and coordinates with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the DOJ, and other federal agencies.

DOJ’s Market, Government, and Consumer Fraud (MGCF) Unit. On July 10, 2025, the DOJ announced a significant shift in its fraud enforcement strategy, consolidating resources from the Criminal Division and the Civil Division to create the Market, Government, and Consumer Fraud Unit within the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The focus of the MGCF Unit includes the identification and prosecution of trade fraud related to misclassification, valuation errors, and incorrect country of origin declaration, including transshipment. On April 7, 2026, the Office of the Attorney General issued a memorandum establishing the National Fraud Enforcement Division (NFED) within the DOJ. Pursuant to the memorandum, the Assistant Attorney General for the NFED assumed operational control of the MGCF Unit, placing trade fraud enforcement under the umbrella of this new, centralized division.

DOJ Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program. On May 12, 2025, the Department of Justice added customs fraud to its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program. Employees, former employees, competitors, and supply chain partners now have a financial incentive to report suspected customs fraud directly to DOJ. Undervaluation, misclassification, false country of origin claims, and ADD/CVD evasion are all squarely within the program’s scope.

Legal Remedies to Correct Errors

CBP makes mistakes. When that happens, importers have legal tools to push back.

Protest

The most important remedy is the protest under 19 U.S.C. § 1514. A protest is the primary administrative remedy available to importers to challenge a CBP decision after liquidation. Under 19 U.S.C. § 1514, an importer may protest a broad range of CBP decisions, including:

The rate and amount of duties assessed
The classification of merchandise
The valuation of merchandise
Exclusion of merchandise from entry
A liquidation or reliquidation decision
A finding of admissibility or marking

The deadline is strict and jurisdictional: a protest must be filed within 180 days of the date of liquidation. Missing this deadline eliminates the administrative remedy entirely and significantly limits further legal options.

Protest Filing Checklist

Step 1: Confirm the liquidation date: The 180-day protest window runs from the date of liquidation, not the date of entry. These dates are often different. Check the entry summary and CBP’s ACE portal to confirm the actual liquidation date before calculating the deadline.
Step 2: Identify the protestable decision: Not every CBP action is protestable under 19 U.S.C. § 1514. Importers must confirm that what they are challenging falls within the statute’s scope.
Step 3: Include a detailed legal argument: CBP protest officers review hundreds of protests. A protest that simply states disagreement with a decision without legal support will almost certainly be denied. The argument should cite the applicable tariff schedule, CBP rulings, court decisions, or other supporting legal authority.
Step 4: Apply for Further Review: Ask for further review by CBP Headquarters, and verify that the question is eligible for such further review, so that a negative decision by the Center of Excellence and Expertise is not necessarily the final decision on the issue.
Step 5: Request accelerated disposition if needed: CBP has up to two years to act on a protest. An accelerated disposition may be requested, which requires CBP to act within 30 days or the protest is deemed denied. While the statute imposes a two-year deadline for CBP to decide a protest, Congress did not provide a similar deemed-denial provision if CBP misses that deadline.
Step 6: Monitor and respond to CBP’s decision: If CBP denies the protest, importers may file a summons in the U.S. Court of International Trade within 180 days of the protest denial. Missing this deadline eliminates the possibility of judicial review.

Post-Importation Corrective Actions

Post-Entry Refund Claims Under FTAs (1520(d) claims)

Section 1520(d) of the Tariff Act provides a separate and distinct remedy for importers who failed to claim a preferential duty rate under a free trade agreement at the time of entry and who want to claim that preference after liquidation.

This is not a protest. It is a post-entry claim for a refund of duties paid, based on the availability of a free trade agreement preference that was not claimed at the time of importation.

Common scenarios where 1520(d) applies:

Goods qualifying under USMCA, CAFTA-DR, or another FTA where the preference was not claimed at entry
Situations where the certificate or certification of origin was not available at the time of filing
Cases where the importer was unaware of the applicable FTA preference at entry

The deadline for a 1520(d) claim is one year from the date of importation, not from liquidation. This is a critical distinction from the protest deadline – and a much shorter timeframe.

Post Summary Corrections

Usually, when CBP changes a classification, value, country of origin, or other data element on an entry, it will liquidate the entry and issue a bill for any underpayment. Post Summary Corrections (PSCs) cannot be filed on entries that are liquidated – instead, they must be filed within 300 days of entry, or at least 15 days before the scheduled liquidation, whichever is sooner. PSCs are a very useful tool for importers who identify an error before the entry liquidates to amend certain eligible customs entries filed with the CBP, which could allow businesses to recover overpaid duties or taxes.

Building a Pre-Compliance Program

CBP’s enforcement posture is more aggressive than it has been in a generation. Importers who have not recently reviewed their compliance posture are carrying more risk than they realize.

The protest process and the 1520(d) remedy provide meaningful paths to recovery when CBP gets it wrong or when a preference claim is missed at entry. However, administrative remedies are a
second line of defense. The first line is a compliance posture built to withstand scrutiny. In the current enforcement environment, the cost of getting it right before entry is usually a small fraction of the cost of fixing it after.

A compliance program built to withstand this level of scrutiny should address the following:

Classification Procedures. Establish a consistent approach for assigning HTSUS classifications, including how justifications are documented, what supporting records are retained, and the criteria for seeking a binding ruling from CBP.
Valuation Procedures. Define how valuation is determined, including in related-party transactions, and identify the situations that warrant requesting a binding ruling from CBP.
Country of Origin Procedures. Set clear standards for determining, documenting, and certifying origin that include substantial transformation analysis, marking requirements, and preferential trade programs such as USMCA.
Recordkeeping. Align documentation practices with CBP’s requirements under 19 C.F.R. Part 163, retaining commercial invoices, packing lists, entry summaries, and other import records for a minimum of five years.
Broker Management. Establish clear expectations for customs brokers, including written instructions, regular performance reviews, and communication protocols that keep entry data accurate and consistent.
Internal Audits and Reviews. Conduct periodic self-assessments to catch errors before CBP does, reinforcing a proactive compliance posture and laying the groundwork for any needed corrective action.
Corrective Actions and Escalation. Maintain a clear process for addressing problems once identified, including internal reporting, escalation paths, and when to file a prior disclosure to limit potential penalty exposure.

CBP Protests and Post-Entry Corrections