The long and winding road: pursuing a bad trade decision by a customs officer in the United States

In the US, the law allows an importer to contest adverse decisions on their customs entries for a number of reasons including differences in appraised value, classification and rate of duty, exclusion from entry and refusal to pay a drawback claim. Anyone who either advises importers or directly pursues what they believe have been incorrect trade decisions made by U.S. Customs and Protection (CBP) knows that the processes can not only be frustrating but also prohibitively expensive.