The COVID Project
Context, not an orderThis record is guidance or an announcement kept for context. It is not counted among the orders in force.
The record
- Jurisdiction
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Department of the Treasury; all ports of entry
- Level
- Federal
- Authority
- 19 U.S.C. 1318(a); 19 C.F.R. 24.1a
- Issued
- 2020-04-19 Apr. 19, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-04-20
- End
- applies to entries in March and April 2020 (postponements ran to July 2020) (read as 2020-09-30)
- In force
- Apr. 20, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2020
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Other
- Addressees
- importers of record experiencing significant financial hardship
- customs brokers
- sureties
- Functions reached
- CB importers whose operations were 'fully or partially suspended... due to orders from a competent governmental authority limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings'
- SC imported inventory
- OP brokers and sureties
- Character
- context
- Collection
- Coast Guard and ports AGY-USCG-PORTS
Operative words
On April 20, 2020, 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). This temporary postponement applies to formal entries of merchandise entered, or [withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption (including entries for consumption] from a Foreign Trade Zone) in March 2020 or April 2020. CBP will not return [deposits already paid].... [An importer will have a significant financial hardship if the operation of such importer] is fully or partially suspended during March 2020 or April 2020 due to orders from a competent governmental authority limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings due to 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. An eligible importer does not need to file documentation with [CBP].... No interest will accrue for the postponed payment of such estimated duties, taxes, and fees during this 90-day postponement period. No penalty, liquidated damages, or other sanction will be imposed for the postponed payment.
Enforcement
19 U.S.C. 1318(a); 19 C.F.R. 24.1a (books-and-records substantiation)
Notes
CBP's own use of the Suspension Clause's vocabulary: a federal agency determined in April 2020 that importers' operations were fully or partially suspended by governmental orders limiting commerce, travel or group meetings and built a relief rule on that finding.
Retrieval noteText read in full; bracketed words bridge line breaks. the legal effect (if any) lies in the rule, statute or order it announces (e.g., 85 Fed. Reg. 22349 for the duty postponement; 19 U.S.C. 1318). Cite the message as evidence of the operating regime).