Skip to main content

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

  1. Home
  2. Trade
  3. Revision of Post-Importation Preference Program Claims under 19 U.S.C. 1520(d) with a Classification Change

Revision of Post-Importation Preference Program Claims under 19 U.S.C. 1520(d) with a Classification Change

CBP seeks to clarify the administration of 19 U.S.C. 1520(d), post-importation preference claim that includes a classification change or, under certain limited situations, a value change. The 19 U.S.C. 1520(d), post importation preference claim, allows for a preference claim to be made within one year of the date of importation if a claim was not made at entry summary. It is the ONLY mechanism to make a post-importation preference claim on CERTAIN Free Trade Agreements (e.g., North American Free Trade Agreement, Chile Free Trade Agreement, Oman Free Trade Agreement, Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement and the Peru Free Trade Promotion Agreement).

This statutory provision only allows changes to the entry summary that bear DIRECTLY on the preference claim. This includes a tariff classification or valuation change on a line in which a preference claims in being made, if that valuation change enables the good to meet the terms of the preference program. The limited scope of 19 U.S. 1520(d) is made clear in internal advice 227127, December 10, 1996, page 2, paragraph 3, excerpted here:

“We find that Customs may reliquidate an entry to refund duties pursuant to 19 USC 1520(d) only for claims which bear directly on the issue of preferential treatment for the goods in question.”

It further elaborate on page 4, paragraph 3, below:

“Accordingly, a post-importation duty refund claim may be granted where the claim involves classification, valuation or other issues that bear directly on the issue of whether the good would have qualified as an originating good. For example, classification must impact on whether the merchandise satisfies a specific rule of origin, while valuation must relate to the regional value content calculation.”

Only classification or valuation changes that result in a line meeting a preference program rule of origin are permitted under 19 U.S.C. 1520(d). Such claim should be processed without requiring a Post Entry Amendment (PEA), a Post Summary Correction (PSC) or a 19 U.S.C. 1514, Protest.

Last Modified: Aug 15, 2019