CBP recently updated its GSP page to reflect renewal in the last month’s omnibus spending bill. According to CBP, GSP duty-free benefits will officially “restart” on April 22.
Products that claimed GSP during the lapse will be eligible for automatic refunds. CBP will begin that process shortly after April 22. Duties will be refunded without interest and go to the importer of record, meaning there may be delays if a third party is your importer of recorder (an issue in the past).
Products that did not claim GSP during the lapse must request refunds. According to CBP’s website, these refund requests (post-importation GSP claims) can be submitted as letters, Post Summary Corrections (PSC) or Protests. Such requests must include:
- Entry number
- Line number
- HTSUS number
- Estimated total refund
- Signed statement that the goods are eligible for GSP
- Point of contact name, phone number and email address
The deadline to submit refund requests is September 19, 2018. CBP reserves the right to reject claims without all of the above info. Failure to submit a post-importation GSP claim following those rules is not remediable via protest.
While GSP has been renewed through 2020, we encourage GSP program users to sign up for the free GSP Supporter List to receive periodic updates on such issues such as refunds and the Annual Review process.
