Customs has posted CSMS #43528998 (July 31, 2020) reminding the trade community that as per the modification to the Post Summary Correction (“PSC”) procedure announced in the Federal Register on August 14, 2019 (84 FR 40430), the deadline for filing a PSC has been extended in cases where an importer requests and is granted an extension of liquidation pursuant to 19 CFR 159.12.

Under this modified procedure, after an importer is granted an extension of liquidation, a PSC may be transmitted to CBP up to 15 days prior to the scheduled liquidation date as per the liquidation extension.  Accordingly, under the modified procedure a PSC must be transmitted to CBP within 300 days after the date of entry or up to 15 days prior to the scheduled liquidation date, whichever is earlier, except in situations involving an extension of liquidation, in which case a PSC must be transmitted to CBP up to 15 days prior to the scheduled extended liquidation date.

This change was made to increase the amount of time a filer has to submit a PSC in situations involving trade requested extensions of liquidation. Significantly, it may have particular applicability in situations where an importer receives an extension of liquidation in order to preserve its right to a refund in the event that the importer requests an extension of liquidation to accommodate a Section 301 duty exclusion or duty exclusion extension request.

In those instances, if the duty exclusion request or the exclusion extension request is granted, then if liquidation of the entry has also been granted, the importer would have additional time to submit the PSC to Customs and obtain a duty refund. Of course, if the importer misses the time period for submitting a PSC in order to obtain a refund then it is also possible that the refund could still be obtained by filing a protest within 180 days of the date of liquidation.

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Robert Stang is a Washington, D.C.-based partner with the law firm Husch Blackwell LLP. He leads the firm’s Customs group.