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

Ira Reese
Ira Reese
Independent consultant on customs and trade matters and border and stadium security, Global Security and Innovative Strategies, United States of America
Published 23 Jan 2025
The long and winding road: pursuing a bad trade decision by a customs officer in the United States
Pexels KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA
Perspective
Classification
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.

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