Protests Filed for GSP Benefits During Lapse Should be Denied, Says CBP
Protests claiming duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences during the recent lapse in the program should be denied, said CBP in a ruling that granted a protest from IAMGOLD on classification issues, but denied its GSP claims. Instead, importers seeking retroactive GSP treatment must request it during the 180-day period outlined by CBP in July (see 1507210023), said CBP in ruling HQ 264880.
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IAMGOLD had entered the merchandise, spent carbon fines containing gold from Suriname, in August 2013. Legal authorization for the GSP program had lapsed days earlier, on July 31, 2013, and would not return into effect until nearly two years later, when Congress passed and President Obama signed the Trade Preferences Extension Act (see 1506290045). CBP initially liquidated the entry under a duty-free subheading. However, based on another CBP ruling on identical merchandise, IAMGOLD filed a protest in January, claiming classification under a different subheading that normally carried a duty rate of 4.1 percent, but also claiming duty-free treatment under GSP. The port referred to CBP headquarters for further review.
In its June 30 ruling, CBP headquarters found that IAMGOLD’s protest should be granted with respect to classification, given the existence of a ruling covering identical merchandise from the same company. However, even though that earlier ruling also found the identical merchandise eligible for GSP treatment, CBP said the protest’s GSP claims should be denied.
According to the ruling, the Trade Preferences Extension Act allowed CBP to “disregard liquidation status in determining GSP eligibility and consequent refunds.” However, it also said that importers would have a 180-day period after the date of enactment “to resubmit their entry for refund consideration,” said CBP. The Trade Preferences Extension Act was enacted on June 29, and duty-free treatment of GSP-eligible imports became effective July 29. At the time CBP’s ruling was issued on June 30, the GSP extension and retroactive benefits had not yet come into effect, said CBP, avoiding any discussion of its 2014 direction to ports to reject any protests filed to claim GSP treatment (see 14081320). “At this time Protestant is not eligible to claim GSP, and any GSP post-importation claims and related GSP protest claims should be denied,” said CBP.